


Under A Red Moon

by douchegrayson



Series: Lunar [1]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, Zelda - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Whump, and hopefully a little bit scary, beedle gets a character tag because they are bonding over Beedle, its a little graphic but not nightmare material I hope, there is also a roadtrip, this is a bit of Twilight angst what can I say
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:53:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21586432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/douchegrayson/pseuds/douchegrayson
Summary: After another Shift, they land in Wild's Hyrule. Unbeknownst to them, they arrive just hours before the mysterious Blood Moon rises and it has unforeseen effects on Twilight that they don't know how to handle ...
Series: Lunar [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1568821
Comments: 38
Kudos: 268





	1. Like some Child possessed

**Author's Note:**

> aah I suck at summaries
> 
> at first I meant for this to be a one-shot but now it's gonna be a two-chapter-story. I want to post a lot more for Linked Universe, please tell me how you like it!
> 
> English is not my native language though, so forgive me some minor (or major?) mistakes.
> 
> Enjoy!

Twilight thought that by now, he was used to the world shifting. Used to the feeling of the ground under his very feet tilting and tilting until the sky was the ground and the ground was the sky and there was nothing in between but the nine of them, anchored to the ground by heavy gear and backpacks one moment, weightless and adrift between universes in the next. 

Twi closed his eyes in an effort to fight the oncoming nausea.

  
With a thud, they landed on the ground and Legend let out a groan. “Ow, I landed right on my boomerang.” he complained and rubbed his bottom. Wind snickered. He had landed rather elegantly on his two feet and was exceptionally proud of himself for not falling over.   
  


Time was adjusting a couple of straps on his armor that had come undone in the shift and dusted himself off before he set to help Sky to his feet, who had landed in a couple of bushes and was currently struggling to free the belt of his shirt from some branches. 

Warriors' was facing a similar problem and was giving Hyrule very specific instructions on how to untangle his scarf from the underbush without tearing it. Hyrule was nearly sweating with stress, not prepared for the dire consequences he would have to face if he really did rip Warriors' scarf. 

“YES!!” Wild surfaced from the tall grass that was growing all over the hill they were on, Sheikah Slate clasped in both hands, obviously with a signal on his ‘not-magical’ device. A few stray blades of grass were poking out from his long braid. He pushed himself to his knees and waved the slate around “We’re on top of the Popla Foothills!” he announced. With a swift motion he clipped the thing to the magnetic hook on his belt, pushed himself up and turned around himself to find the way to go. “This way, if we climb down the hill, there is a stable and Beedle too. We can stock up at his shop.” he said, pointing down the hill on his right side. 

Two incredibly tall mountains rose against the horizon there, separated only by a wide chasm that almost seemed like something big had once forced its way through, dividing the twin peaks forever.

“Wait Beedle? Like a sort of bug themed merchant?” Wind asked and Sky perked up “You have one, too?” he asked, bewildered amusement displayed on his face. 

“Oh my god …” Four said from his position next to Legend, dusting off his multi-colored tunic and helping Legend pull his tunic in places where it was still uneven. “I have one, too.” he said and Wind’s grin spread from one ear to his other. 

“Wicked.” he smirked and launched into a detailed description of his Beedle’s home, Sky soon joining in and telling Wind about Beedle’s shop that he held in the air solely by the power of his thighs.

As the four were exchanging stories, Time straightened and did a head count. All seemed to be accounted for except for- 

“Pup?” he asked carefully as he spotted the black pelt and dark green tunic among the tall grass, a bit ways of where Time had landed himself. Twilight perked up, his hand pressed to his mouth and his face a color nearly matching the grass around him. “Sorry”, he mumbled after a significantly deep breath. He wiped his hand on the cloth of his tunic and sat back. 

“Are you okay?” Time asked, his hand landing on Twi’s shoulder in a reassuring gesture. The younger waved him off. “Sure, ‘s just the breakfast didn’t go all too well with the world shifting.” he said, fumbled around with his canteen and took a few gulps from it.

Time looked him over, one eye narrowed and seemed satisfied with that reply. “Sorry”, he said in turn and offered his hand to pull Twilight up. “Can we go?” he asked him and received a nod in return. The little sway of his protege had not gone unnoticed and he held onto his hand for a moment longer. 

If Twilight noticed, he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he, too, pulled his clothes in place and started walking, following the rest of the company who was already beginning the track down. 

Chatter among the group was animated due to the prospect of a warm bed, food and Beedle. Legend and Hyrule were talking among themselves about variation of magic spells while the Beedle-Gang (trademarked by Wind, thank you very much) was still talking about the merchant. Time and Twilight were the quiet rear of the group. 

***

Twilight should have known that his dizziness would not go unnoticed by the old man. Since he had helped him up, the eldest watched him like a hawk. It was in his good right, Twi supposed. Never before had a world shift caused him to completely throw up his breakfast. Even though his stomach was empty now, he still felt like retching. Like the bile was just waiting at the back of his throat for the next gross thing to cross him and force it all out. It wasn’t just the stomach sickness. A headache was pounding just behind his eyes, radiating into his skull all the way down into his neck but he was sure he had not fallen on his head. 

At first, Twilight couldn’t place the weird feeling he had ever since they first entered Wild’s Hyrule. He felt hypersensitive to everything around him, every voice too loud, every touch too much. Even though it’s been well over an hour since they had set out, it still felt like Time’s hand was pressed to his shoulder. 

He was aware of Time’s gaze on him. 

He smelled the grass around him in an intensity as if it had just been cut. 

In the distance, beyond the mountain he could hear the gurgling of an unseen river. And yet, Twilight knew exactly where it was. 

He smelled rotten wood, mushrooms, a _couple of deer_ in a nearby group of trees.

He smelled Time next to him, the scent of hay, deep woods and dust ever present around him. 

When all the pieces finally fell into place, all this intensity finally explained to him, Twilight stopped in his tracks and stared at the ground, his chest heaving as he breathed, his nostrils almost flaring as he took in the assault of scents around him. 

He closed his eyes, cautiously, and saw the world for what it was - a low blue filter over his surroundings, sounds winding down as if someone pressed cotton to his ears. 

There was Time, next to him, his aura shining in a blinding gold. 

There was Wild at the head of the group, four colors swirling through his light blue aura.

This was what he saw, when he was a wolf. These were his wolf senses. But he wasn’t a wolf right now. He was Link, the Hero of Twilight. He saw his own hands in front of him, but they were surrounded by a bright orange aura, an orange the color of Midna’s-

He gasped and the world came back to focus, color and sound returning and the feeling of a hand on his shoulder intensified. “Pup!” Time said, a certain edge to his voice as Twilight blinked at him.

The others had stopped, too and gathered around. “Are you okay?” Time asked him once more, “You were spacing out and just breathed like you ran a marathon. Do you want to take a break?” 

Twilight wanted the feeling to be gone. He didn’t want anyone touch him, he didn’t want them to crowd around him, all their smells combining to a mess that he learned to distinct in a fight, but never dealt with as a human. “I’m fine”, he choked and stepped back from Time, back from this oppressive hand on his shoulder. 

There. 

That was the feeling. 

Oppression.

The air here was oppressing, suffocating even. 

What in the world was going on?

It’s never been like this the other times he had joined Wild on his quest. What was different now?

“Queasy from the shifting, I just need some … some space.” he said and wrapped his arms around himself in an almost protective manner. Time’s hand was still hovering in the air but he dropped it with just a small frown. “Alright”, he said, smiling.

“Just tell us if you need a breather.” 

Twilight hated this attention on him, hated how they all looked worried even as they marched on. There was no reason to be worried, he thought. It was just from the shifting, it had thrown him out of balance. A couple of hours, give or take and he would be alright. 

He tried desperately to ignore the shadow crystal burning hot against his skin underneath his shirt.

***

In the end, Twilight could trust his friends to respect his needs and no one commented when he fell in place a couple of steps behind Time, glad that the wind was blowing in his favor and away from him. 

The Popla Foothills ended in a steep way down that definitely was going to be a challenge for all except for - well Sky and Wild.

“Race you?” Wild asked but by then, Sky had already sprinted past him and threw himself off, legs and arms spread. Wild gasped and ran, too and from the edge, the remaining six could watch them descent with Sky landing on his feet elegantly and way ahead of Wild. 

Luckily, almost all of them had some sort of hookshot that assisted them in their descent. As Twilight stood at the edge - he and Time the last to go - his head was pounding and when he bent down to find an undisturbed piece of rock to hookshot into, his view went black. 

His hand scraped along the rough rock, tearing through his glove and his skin and he felt himself shifting and was sure he would fall down the cliff and break his neck.

In the back of his mind he felt this should happen faster. 

He should already be rushing through the air but there was still grass under his knees, he thought? 

He wasn’t sure, he only knew he was ever moving forward.

“Pup!” A strong arm wrapped itself around his middle and yanked him back in the last moment pulling him back into the grass. Worried hands roamed through his bangs, cupping his face and Twilight blinked, the touch like fire on his cold cheeks. 

“Twi… ..ok … at me....ease...” Time, he thought. 

He couldn’t tell, not really. Sound was muffled and his headache was almost louder than words. He lifted his hands and found Times arms, holding on to them, trying to stop his world from spinning. “‘m here …” he mumbled and Time talked some more, but he couldn’t hear.

The hands left his face and instead wrapped around his body, hoisting him up and he was half slouching over Time’s shoulder as the older got up and decided to get them both down together.

***

Wild was at their side the moment they touched down and grabbed Twilight’s other side, gently guiding him over to a tree that he could lean on. Twi slumped against the bark, eyes half closed again. The others were talking around him, that much he could tell.

“What’s wrong with him?” Hyrule wanted to know and knelt down. Hands in his bangs again, checking for a temperature, finding it completely normal.

“I don’t know”, Time sighed “he was leaning over and suddenly blacked out and almost fell.” he explained and sat down next to his pup, just in case the younger would fall to the side.

“Maybe we should wait here until he is feeling better. How long until the stable?” Hyrule suggested and looked at Wild, who checked his slate with a thoughtful expression. “An hour, maybe two if we walk slowly.” he said and checked the sky.

“We still have plenty of time until nightfall. Maybe taking a small break would be best. Wind, help me find some firewood?” he asked and Wind followed him right away, giving Wild a worried expression.

Even though Twilight was barely responsive, Time pulled off his glove and cleaned the deep slice in his palm and wrapped it up with a bandage.

It was nice to put down the heaviest of their gear and so the lunch camp was set up quickly around the tree and Wild set up the campfire to roast some fish he and Wind had caught in the nearby river. 

Wind and Sky watched as Wild rubbed some stonesalt over the scales of the fish and eventually pierced them on a couple of sticks, placing them around the fire in a tight circle. After a couple of minutes, a delicious smell filled the air. 

The scent alone seemed to be enough to pull Twilight from the weird haze he had been in. In the last hour, he had sat against the tree, his face buried in his hands, his breathing slightly shallow and with a good distance between him and Time, avoiding any sort of physical contact. Finally, he looked up and seemed to search the source of the smell. 

It was funny, Wind thought, the way Twilight was leaning forward with his nose first, almost _sniffing_. It reminded him a lot of Wolfie.

Suddenly, Twilight moved and snatched one of the fish away from the fire 

“Twi- wait!” Wild reached out but was too slow. Twilight had already sunk his teeth into the half cooked dish and Warrior knew no other way to describe it than that he was _wolfing it down_. 

A stunned silence fell over the remaining eight as they watched how Twilight grabbed another and chomped down on it. In a span of ten minutes, he had devoured three fish - fishbones, head and tail included. He breathed out and made a sound that almost sounded like a growl and just for the fraction of a second, Time thought he saw a set of fangs. But when he blinked, Twilight had closed his mouth again. 

Four cleared his throat and broke the silence “Uh … are you feeling okay, Twilight?” he asked and only earned another growl “Yes, I do!” the older snapped back in a tone Four had never heard of him before. “Why is everyone asking me this, I’m fine!” he said and scooted back until he was leaning against the tree again, resting one arm on top of his knee while he used index finger and thumb to poke between his teeth and tried to get some scaly skin out his interdental spaces.

The others kept on staring, baffled.

Sure, sometimes Twilight was rough around the edges - lacking an etiquette that most of the other Links had learned by being around Princess Zelda (or Malon) for an extended period of time - but they had never seen him like this. Never this rude, this feral. 

No one knew what to say.

“Uh … dig in.” Wild said hesitantly and reached for one of the remaining fish himself, testing if it was done. He deemed it good enough and began eating. The others followed suit and the lunch went on in silence. 

In the early afternoon, they geared up again - Twilight’s weird outburst still on their minds. The break however seemed to have revitalized the hero. He was the first on his feet, all geared up and walked ahead in a hasty pace. Wild watched with a frown as he dashed left and right, checked in bushes and behind rocks, his head held high and into the wind.

It was almost as if … as if Twilight’s mind had shifted to Wolfie, but his body hadn’t. Which was nothing short of weird.

Wild reached out and pulled at Time’s sleeve, so the older would look at him.

“What should we do?” he mouthed and for the first time since he had met him, Time’s expression was completely clueless.

“I don’t … I don’t know …”

They had never seen Twilight like this, no other world had ever affected him in such a way. 

The river was rumbling along on their left side and in front of them, the Dueling Peaks were rising above, casting a shadow onto them as the sun moved across the sky. “We just have to pass through the mountains and cross a bridge and then we’ll be at the stable.” Wild announced, half watching Twilight walking briskly ahead.

“Lizalfos!” the other suddenly called out, drawing his blade and shield. 

His call to arms went not unfollowed and so when the set of Lizalfos jumped out of the river and came running for them, they were met with nine blades and stood little chance. The Octorocks that were drifting through the currents nearby were swiftly eliminated by Twilights bow and by the late afternoon, they passed the Big Twin Bridge and arrived at the Dueling Peaks Stable.

***

Luckily, Tassaren, the young man working at the counter, had enough beds for the nine of them so they were looking forward to a night between pillows and blankets and not their bedrolls. Warriors even decided to pay the extra rupee to sleep in one of the Soft Beds. 

Usually, it would be too early to turn in now but Time could tell that they were all tired and still a little weirded out by Twilight’s outburst and straight up strange behaviour, so he decided to cut them some slack and dressed down, too. The only thing he kept on him were his sword and shield.

They scattered about the surroundings of the stable, Warriors, Four, Hyrule and Legend had set out to check the nearby shrine and calm their aching feet in the cold water of the pond surrounding the strange glowing stone structure.

Time settled down on the little benches around the cooking pot, conversing lightly with a bearded man that was already sitting there, exchanging tips on ranch work and animal handling.

Sky and Wind had climbed the roof of the stable and sat down, eagerly watching the horizon for any signs of Beedle walking in while they started talking about the merchant again, comparing their own with the other’s. 

Wild in the meantime was trying his hardest to stop Twilight from straying too far away from the stable. He knew Twi was able to handle himself, that he was strong enough to defeat an enemy by himself but the Ash Swamp was right around the hills and the area was still scattered with Guardians the occasional Bokoblin. 

“Twi, please! Tell me what’s wrong!” he demanded, both his arms wrapped around Twilight’s arm and holding him back with all his body weight. It worked - sort of - and Twilight finally stopped his frantic march further down the hill. 

“There are enemies down there.” he said “Bokoblins. I can smell them. I’m going to get rid of them, that way, they can’t attack us!” he explained in a condescending voice, as if he couldn’t believe that Wild was even asking him this. 

The place was surrounded by enemies and they all had the nerve to dress down and just settle in for some free time! It was almost like they wanted to die.

“Trust me”, Wild said “they are never moving close to the stable. It’s safe, we’re going to be fine for tonight.” he said.

Twilight turned around, then, in a swift motion and snarled at Wild. He shoved him off his arm, bearing fangs at him - _fangs,_ Wild realized suddenly. He flinched back and stared at the set of sharp teeth and his look flickered upward. 

Twilight's eyes were no longer the deep steel blue color that Wild had come so accustomed to, but were glaring orange with slits instead of pupils as he glowered down on him. 

“We’re never safe!” he snapped “And you should know this. I’m doing this for the group, for all of us! Now, leave me be!” 

“Twi …” but Wild’s words were unheard as Twilight turned on his heel and stomped off through the grass towards the swamp. Wild was torn. Should he keep going after him and stop him from running head first into more danger? Should he go back to the stable and ask for help?

Just what in the world had gotten into Twilight?!

***

Wild could still see him at the foot of the hill, sword drawn but soon he disappeared behind a deactivated Guardian. From the stables, Wild heard a whooping sound and when he turned around, he saw Wind and Sky clambering down from their position on the roof and approaching Beedle, who had finally arrived at the stable. He was obviously flustered by the attention he was suddenly receiving and presented his stag beetle shaped backpack with a swollen chest.

Seeing his companions, Wild realized that he needed help. 

Whatever was going on with Twilight, it was nothing he could handle by himself. The sun was beginning to set, descending quickly across the sky as Wild walked back and from the stable doors, he noticed a man emerging and taking a seat by the cooking pot. When he recognized him, Wild’s stomach suddenly sank to the ground and a terrible thought occurred to him.

Hasty steps developed into a sprint and soon he crashed back into the campsite, squeezing through Warriors and Legend who were inspecting the octo balloons Beedle were selling and skidding to a halt in front of the man, who was talking to Time but looked up upon Wild’s arrival.

“Hino!” he gasped, leaning on his knees “Hino, what’s the moon tonight!?” he asked. Time had stood up, alarmed by Wild’s sudden appearance. 

Hino ran a hand through his dark mustache, nodding carefully. “Now that you mention it …” he said slowly “I'm getting that feeling again... Something is going to happen tonight. I can taste it. It hasn’t been like that in a long while. I thought it stopped entirely after the defeat of the Demise but now…” he said carefully and Wild stared at him, wide eyed.

“Cub? What’s wrong?” Time asked. The last thing they needed now was Wild freaking out as well.   
“That’s bad.” Wild said and reached up to wipe some blonde strands out of his scarred face “If it really happens, Twilight might be affected by it. But why now? Wolfie never had these problems …” he mumbled to himself, twirling his hair between his fingers as he paced back and forth. Time’s confused look totally went over his head. 

“Why is it happening again …? I thought after we defeated Ganon that would be … I thought it was something he did. Could it be because of the Shadow …”

“Wild!” Time called and grabbed him by the shoulders, stopping him from walking back and forth. 

The oldest hero was getting increasingly annoyed with the way control seemed to slip from him ever since they entered this vast and beautiful Hyrule. 

Twilight was acting completely besides himself - snapping at them, growling, marching ahead when the territory was foreign - and now Wild was starting to lose his marbles, too?! 

“What’s wrong?” Sky wanted to know, putting his newly acquired Restless Cricket into a glass container with a holed lid. The rest of the group gathered around the campfire and Wild looked at all of them.

“The Blood Moon”, he said “back on my journey, it was an extension of the Demises power. It put the restless spirits of the monster back into bodies it formed from ash and dirt. No matter how many monster I defeated, the Blood Moon would revive them once a month and I would be faced with the same problems.” he said.

Legend shook his head slowly “You’re telling me _the moon_ was out to kill you even more than just this land?” he asked. Time seemed to acknowledge this with a grim face “The moon cannot be trusted.” he said and sounded so serious about it that no one dared to defy him.

“So what now?”, Hyrule asked. “It’s a dark energy. Is it going to happen tonight?” - “Probably.” Wild said “It may have been triggered by the Shadow who brought us all together.”

“But we only defeated four monsters and they weren’t even that hard to beat. I mean, Twilight warned us soon enough!” Wind said, his arms crossed and his face pinched. Sure, it sucked to have Monsters be revived but if all they had to worry about were the couple of Lizalfos and the Octorocks, then what was the big deal?

When he mentioned Twilight’s name, Four tensed and found Wild’s gaze.

Of course. The fact that Wolfie and Twilight were one and the same being was still a well kept secret among the three of them. If this Blood Moon really was just a dark energy affecting the land, who was to say if it didn’t affect the more animalistic side of their companion as well? It would match up with the dizziness and the strange behaviour at the camp back at the Popla Foothill. It would explain the running ahead, because that was what he usually did as a wolf. Scouting ahead, determining where the enemies were and how many were laying in wait.

“We have to get Twi back to the stable.” the smith said and Wild nodded, relieved that he got the hint “We may be safe around here but who knows what else could happen.” he said.

“Nothing is going to happen.” Twilight’s rough voice caused them all to turn to its source. Twilight had just arrived at the foot of the hill, sword and hands dripping with thick, corrupted blood. It was dark, so in the halflight of the campfire, Wild couldn’t be sure but it looked like he was wiping his face clean off the blood with the sleeve of his tunic. 

It made for an absolutely terrifying entrance and Wind swallowed, especially when he noticed the way Twilight’s eyes were shining in a ghostly yellow in the half dark. 

But- that was just a trick of the light, right?

Twilight didn’t have yellow eyes. 

And he certainly didn’t have fangs the length of his little finger protruding from his upper jaw. 

Twilight’s face wasn’t this sharp and long, his shoulder never this tense, his stride never this long and heavy.

In that moment, Wind was convinced that this wasn’t Twilight standing in front of them but someone that had taken his form and was trying to fool them. He reached for his sword - he had rested it against one of the wooden pillars of the stables - and drew it, pointing it at Twilight. 

“Wind!” Warriors’ said, confused but just as alarmed as the younger. 

“What did you do to Twilight?!” Wind wanted to know, his hand trembling at the thought of having to raise his blade at his friend. 

The man standing in front of him was grinning impossibly wide, revealing even more of the sharp teeth. The markings on his forehead were pulsing in a red light. “Nothing, Wind”, he said “I’m fine.” 

“Twi …” Wild said slowly, unsure what to do. 

The tension was broken by a roaring sound echoing through the sky above them. Red and black particles were beginning to rise from the ground and what had previously been a low summer night suddenly turned cold. The stable, the grass, the benches, all of it around were bathed in a glaring red light as Wild looked up. 

_The Blood Moon rises once again … please be careful …_

Zelda’s words were so etched into his brain that even now, Wild thought he could hear her. Of course he couldn’t. She was somewhere safe in Akkala. She was no longer locked into the castle with the Demise. 

...She was, wasn’t she? 

Wild stared at the moon above them and only really got back when Wind let out a yelp and he felt the other Links scrambling for weapons.

In front of them, Twilight had slammed to his knees, a scream ripped from his throat. 

It sounded so full of agony that Wild feared he was dying. 

Frantically, Twilight tried to pull something away from him, dragging it out from underneath his shirt but to no avail. Little by little, black and red energy crept over his body, forcing him further to his knees. The energy was accompanied by snapping and tearing sounds, crunching as if bones were being broken. 

“Twilight!” Sky called out and reached for him but just in that instant, the black energy was bursting away and in front of them, crouched on the ground was no longer Twilight but a massive wolf, dark as the pitch black night, square patterns pulsing over its body. Tendrils were protruding from its neck, whipping back and forth.

A heartbeat or two passed before it got to its feet, threw its massive head back and let out a high pitched, shrieking howl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please, please, please come talk to me about Linked Universe on my twitter @UnwoundFuture !


	2. The Beast howls in my Veins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know I said last chapter it was gonna be two parts but now I can't stop working on this so I'm gonna let this be ... three chapters. or maybe more, I don't know this is very much completely escaping my control.
> 
> anyway!!! heads up, it's graphic enough to change the rating but I don't think it's that gorey (given that stuff like that is making me queasy all the time ;; )
> 
> Thank you for the kudos and the comments, they really made my day! Please enjoy the new chapter.

* * *

Time felt the scream in every nerve and muscle, deep down into his bone. It made his body shiver and completely lock up. It reminded him too much of a Re-Dead but while it was usually just his body reacting to the monsters and he was no longer afraid of the zombies - this right here terrified him.

Because it wasn’t a Re-Dead. It was Twilight.

Twilight, who had screamed in unimaginable pain as the malice had forced his body to the ground.

Twilight, who had not looked one bit in control. So different from the few times Time had seen him shift.

He forced himself to look around, realizing that none of them was able to move and neither of them could pry their eyes away from the massive beast in front of them. It was at least twice of Wolfie's size, with paws as big as Time's head and a jaw that could probably swallow Wind whole.

When it opened its mouth, it looked like it was stretching far beyond its limit, tearing open the skin to reveal more mismatched teeth than any beast should have. 

It sneered at them and suddenly pounced right into the group.

Wind screamed, awaiting certain death as he was standing at the front. But to his surprise, the paralyses had worn off and Wild had moved so that instead of biting into them, the wolf crashed into an orb made of bright orange energy that was surrounding him and Wild - the ghost of a Goron hovering right above them. 

Wild faced the beast head on, fierce determination displayed on his scarred features. “We have to drive him away from the Stable”, he said as the wolf staggered back, shaking its head. He drew his bow and loaded it with an electric arrow that he shot into the ground just short of the creature. The wolf growled and jumped back.

Sky seemed to have an idea then and dashed inside the Stable. The others stood, unsure how to drive the beast away without hurting it? Was it still their companion, Twilight? Or was it an impostor?

Warriors twisted his blade in his hand, his mind racing. What had Twilight tried to get off him before he had transformed? Wild shot another electric arrow, driving him further away, back towards the hill. 

And not a moment too late because just then, Sky reemerged from the other opening of the Stable, holding something in both his arms that suspiciously looked like a vase. “Sky, what-” Legend was about to snap but suddenly, Sky pointed the vase forward and a strong and steady gust of wind emerged from it, blowing right into the wolf’s face. It barked and turned its head away, trying to move out of the way of the stream. Within the wind, its fur whipped back and forth and it was fighting to keep its eyes open.

The whole situation was so bizarre that Legend struggled not to laugh. 

***

As the wolf stepped backwards, Sky moved with him - literally blowing him away. Wild noticed too late where he was going. “Sky, stop!” but by the time he yelled out, the wolf had completely turned its head away and disengaged from the scene - storming up the hill and vanishing behind it.

“What in the world happened to Twilight?!” Hyrule demanded to know as Sky jogged back towards them. It was a rightful question and one, no one seemed to have the answer to.

“I don’t know but we have to go after him. The area behind the hill is full of monsters.” Wild replied quickly and started running before Time could protest.

"Damn, Wild, wait! Our armor!" he called after him. Hyrule put his hand to Time's arm "I'm going with him, you guys gear up." he said and ran after Wild.

Hyrule never had much armor on his body - he relied on his magic and his quick and easy way to move about the battlefield and so he never bothered dressing down until he actually went to sleep. 

Wild had already climbed up the hill in hasty steps and scanned the swamp that stretched underneath him. He prayed that his panic upon viewing the place of his final failure would not show on his face.

This was the place where he had died, one hundred years ago.

Several, moss covered Guardians were scattered all over, some dead, some merely dorment. He could never tell which until it was almost too late.  
He grit his teeth and began the march down.

He was not going to lose Twilight here. 

“Wild!” Hyrule's voice yanked him out of his thoughts and he looked over his shoulder, seeing the other approach.

“What about this swamp?” he wanted to know as he fell in place next to Wild and they briskly walked down together, swords at the ready. The swamp was bathed in the same, eerie red light and threw harsh, black shadows that were just perfect for a huge wolf to take cover in.

Wild shook his head “It’s just … it’s just dangerous.” he said. For a moment he was tempted to just tell Hyrule. But he didn’t have time to launch into elaborate explanations of his death, so he decided not to.

“Alright.” Hyrule replied, easily and Wild was grateful for it.

***

The noise of an ongoing, monstrous battle soon caught their attention and they spotted the wolf among a group of black Bokoblins. Even in between the monsters, the wolf looked massive as it barreled through them with brutal force. It slammed its head into a Bokoblin, lifting it up and tossing it through the air. With a deafening screech it sailed towards Hyrule and Wild and slammed into the dirt. The latter did not hesitate one moment longer and finished it off by piercing its eye with his blade. 

The wolf whipped around and growled at Wild and Hyrule, who lifted their weapons immediately.

“Please, Twilight. I know you’re still in there. Try to fight the Malice. I know you can break free from it.” Wild tried to approach him. The wolf snapped at one of the Bokoblins and caught it by the head. It struggled in the maws of the beast and the wolf stared straight at Wild as it brought its upper jaw down properly.   
The Bokoblins head cracked like a walnut, corrupted blood gushing out between the wolf's blinding white fangs. It spit the corpse to the ground and growled, the black liquid foaming around its muzzle. 

“Fuck … “ Hyrule breathed next to him, shoulders tense. 

The wolf ducked and set to jump at them again but the Bokoblins were not stupid and had absolutely noticed that the beast's attention was somewhere else. So one of the Bokoblins drove its spiked spear into its side. “No!” Wild yelled out and jerked forward just as the wolf howled in agony, swiped around and pinned the Bokoblin down with its massives paws. Hyrule squeezed his eyes shut just moments before it brought its head down and unfortunately, Hyrule could see the way the wolf began to tear the screeching monster to pieces by sound alone. 

Footsteps behind them indicated the arrival of the rest of the Links. “Are you okay?!” Warriors wanted to know and Hyrule just lifted his hand, pale faced. “We’re fine it’s just- well.” he nodded towards the wolf, who was currently taking care of the seemingly never ending stream of multi-colored Bokoblins that appeared from out of nowhere. It were a lot more monster than usually lived here, Wild thought.

For a bit, it looked like the wolf was stronger, despite the sheer amount of enemies. Soon however, it began to sustain more injuries. One of the Bokoblins slashed its blade across the wolf's face and it yelped in pain. Wild leaned forward when he saw its eyes flicker between orange and blue frequently.

“We have to help.” Wild said and didn’t wait for their reply as he stormed forward and straight into the mess of monsters.

“Ah… screw it.” Wind said, too, and followed with a battle cry. Legend and Hyrule were hesitant at first but when Sky, too, threw himself into the frenzy, Legend let out an exasperated sigh and drew his magic wand.

***

Time wasn’t sure if getting into the battle had been a mistake or a good idea. The wolf's focus shifted on them entirely but it seemed to fight an internal battle as well.   
He observed as it lashed out at Sky, shredding his tunic only to bring him onto his back with its massive paw, press him down and sink its fangs into a Bokoblin behind Sky, that had just meant to bash him down with a club.   
Time, too, noticed how the Wolf’s eyes seemed to shift from blue to orange and back again. Sky stared at the pitch black, ruffled fur above him, breathless.   
  
Had the wolf just protected him?!

“He’s in there.” Wild said next to Time, wiping some blood off his lower lip. “He’s fighting it. Can you see his eyes?” he asked and Time just nodded quietly, looking back to the wolf who abandoned Sky on the ground in favour to jump onto another Bokoblin. 

The white one put up a much bigger of a fight than its buddies, screeched under the weight of the wolf and raked its claws across the wolfs chest, throat and muzzle. Thick red blood dropped down on it and the beast above tore its jaw open and bit the face off the Bokoblin.

All the while, the dark energy was moving about the beast's body in an unsettling pattern, revealing something underneath that was barely visible in the glaring red light.

As if the miniature army of Bokoblins wasn’t enough yet, two white Moblins suddenly joined the fray, bashing their clubs around without caring whether they hit friend or foe.

One of the Moblins took a swing at Wind, who just had enough time to bring up his shield. Wood met metal with a loud CLANK and Wind was thrown back into one of the Guardians and landed in the swamp underneath accompanied by a splashing sound.

“Wind!” Wild dropped sword and shield in favor for speed and sprinted across the battlefield to where the younger was currently beginning to sink deeper into the murky water.   
He was conscious, mercifully, but something in his body must have broken because he was struggling to stand up and frantically fumbled around for anything to hold onto. Wild skidded to a stop on his knees and grabbed his hand. “I got you! Don’t move too much, I’ll pull you out!” he called and Wind held onto his hand and wrist with both his hands. Steady did it, that much Wild knew about swamps. Stay calm and just pull. 

He had dragged Wind out about halfway but his concentration was broken by a whirr. His head jerked up and he glanced at the Guardian Wind had crushed into. Sure enough, its single eye was glowing red and focused a red laserbeam onto them.

“Wild …?” Wind gasped. Wild stared at the machine in front of them, frozen in place. His heart pounded in the back of his throat and suddenly, he scrambled to his feet and began to pull Wind up with a lot more force, which caused Wind to scream “Wild, stop!! You’re hurting me!!” he yelled out. 

The Guardian began beeping.

“No! Nononono!” Wild stammered and tried to pull Wind out faster but a part of his tunic was stuck on a branch or a rock or anything that Wild couldn’t see in the red light of the moon glowing down on them.

The Guardian’s beeping increased.

Wild slipped on the muddy bank of the swamp, lost his grip on Wind and slammed on his back with a loud curse. “Wild!” Wind called out. Wild jumped to his feet and grabbed Wind's hand again, desperately trying to yank him out of the water.

The beeping reached its peak.

_The Guardian fired._

Something jumped at them.

Wild screamed at the top of his lungs and squeezed his eyes shut.

“ _No!_ ” Wind called out but Wild didn’t know who the no was for. He could hear the explosion, he could smell burnt flesh but he felt no pain.

And - in a way - wasn’t that just like hundred years ago?

Back then, he had not felt any pain either. All he remembered was how tired he had been. So incredibly tired that his legs had finally given in and when he had hit the ground, it had seemed softer than any pillow he had ever laid on. He had not heard Zelda’s pleas, had not felt her hands on his face or his chest.   
He _still_ didn’t know how exactly he had made it to the Shrine of Resurrection. Someone had carried him, he thought.

There was no pain now. But there was also no tiredness deep in his bones. Something was warm and soft against him and when Wild finally opened his eyes again, it was only because Wind urged him to. “Wild, please!!” he called and first, Wild focused on him.   
Finally, he pulled him out the last bit of swamp. But instead of trying to catch his breath or attempting to tend to his definitely not normal positioned leg, he scrambled over to the black mass next to them. 

“W-Wolfie …” he stammered, his hands brushing through bloody fur.

***

Sure enough it was the wolf they had fought before, but black energy was cracking in places and revealed the green tinted fur underneath. 

“N-No …” Wild stammered and looked up. The Guardian that had fired at them had been toppled over and moved no longer. Wild looked down to the wolf in front of them. It must have jumped at the Guardian head first, throwing it off with its massive body and in doing so, had become a clear target for the beam. 

Wild got to his feet and wiped some of the wolf’s blood off his face and hands. He walked around it to assess the damage, his stomach sinking at the gruesome sight.   
Its chest and front legs were a mess of blisters and angry red skin, his ribcage visible caved in. Blood was clumping up what little fur was left and it smelled absolutely disgusting. The wolf was panting heavily, blood dripping from between its teeth. Its eyes were steel blue and carried a deeply pained and desperate expression.

“Oh … oh _no_ , Twi …” Wild whispered and sank to his knees once more next to his head. Slowly he brushed his fingers through the fur on his muzzle in a comforting gesture. 

“H-Hold on, okay? You’re gonna be fine …” his hand bumped against something beneath the fur on Wolfies forehead. 

With a frown, he parted the hair and revealed a glaring yellow eye that was clinging to a blackish-orange gem that was buried in his forehead. Wild didn’t know what that gem was, but he had seen this kind of eye often enough at the center of a cluster of Malice. He produced an arrow from his quiver and brought it down on it. It grumbled and popped and with an equal sound, the black energy burst off Twilight and laying in front of them - still the size of the beast from before, was Wolfie.

Wind let out a cry and pulled himself closer to the injured animal in front of them. “Oh no! Wolfie!!” he was fighting tears burning in his eyes and looked at Wild. “What should we do?!” he wanted to know and Wild looked at him, helpless. 

The red light of the moon had faded, the night around them was cool and a chilling breeze was blowing across the swamp. 

Wild wasn’t sure if it was him or Wind sobbing.

Wolfie's head was resting in his lap. He whined and panted in shallow breaths and shook from the pain. Wild rubbed his hands across Wolfie's cheeks in gentle, circling motion and whispered sweet nothings to him, reassuring him that he was going to be okay, these injuries would heal soon and he hadn’t hurt them at all, they were fine. Everything was going to be fine. 

“Shit, is that _Wolfie_?!” a voice yanked him out of his stupor and he looked up at a ruffled Warriors. One by one, the rest of the group came over. They were all dirty from the fight but no one seemed to have sustained any major injuries. Time joined them just a moment later and when he saw the shape Wolfie was in, his stomach sank and he joined Wild's side.

Carefully, he put his hand on Wolfie's body and leaned closer, looking the wounds all over. He prodded at his back to find out if there were any broken bones and Wolfie let out a yelp.

“Do we have some fairies left? Or potions?” Time asked tense and moved his hand up to rest it on Wolfies neck, scratching him there and hoping it would give him some sort of comfort. 

He knew that Twilight liked the ear scratches, he would just never admit it.

“We have to”, Sky mumbled under his breath “All our backpacks are at the stable.” he realized after a short moment of thinking. He looked at Wolfie's new size. “Let’s go”, Legend said “We’ll gather our supplies and bring them back.” Sky nodded and the two of them ran off.

Time looked down at Wolfie, who was whining softly with every breath he was forced to take before he looked at Wind, who clung to his fur and sniffled softly, matching his companion on the ground.

He realized that Wolfie was still half buried in the shallow part of the swamp. “Warriors, Wild, help me drag him further into the grass. Hyrule, Four, can you check on Wind?” he asked and after a short confirmation, the three got to work.

***

It was terrible to drag Wolfie through the dirt like this, even though Wild tried to lift him up a little so his wounds wouldn’t get too agonized in the sand. It didn’t work all that well. He howled softly in agony with his eyes squeezed shut and once the three had placed him back down, he lifted his head and began coughing. It sounded terrifying and Time didn’t feel any better when splotches of blood dyed the grass red underneath him.

“Pup …” Time whispered, feeling every bit of Wolfie’s pain tenfold. He huffed in response and buried his face in Time's stomach, whining with every move. Wild could imagine very well how he must hurt and so he sat down next to Wolfie's head and kept his hands behind his ears, hoping that the little rubbing he gave him would ease his pains a little.

“Is anyone gonna say something about the fact that Twilight turned into a murder monster wolf and THEN into Wolfie??” Warriors blurted out but Time didn’t look at him. 

“Hello?” he demanded and looked over at Four, who had helped Hyrule with Wind. The trio came hobbling over to them, Wind’s leg in a makeshift brace made from Hyrule's tunic and Four's headband. “Four!” he asked, as if he was a hundred percent sure that the others had heard exactly what he had been asking.

Four let out an exasperated sigh and helped Wind sit down on a nearby rock. The youngest could not pry his eyes off the Wolf on the ground. “Please, Warriors can we just- make sure he survives, first?” Four asked in a little louder than necessary voice. Wind twitched and shook his head. 

“Don’t say that! He is going to be fine!” he yelped and Four gave him a sympathetic look “Sorry. Of course he is.” he wished he could see things like Wind did.

But he was a realist. 

And he had noticed Wolfie's breath going slower by the minute, had heard the coughing and gagging. The blood wouldn’t stop flowing. The burns he had received were at least third to fourth degree. And he had not even shifted back. What the hell were these big burns gonna look like on Twilight’s body? 

He wanted to get up, wanted to tell Time how bad it was looking, but the oldest held Wolfie’s head in his arms and whispered in his ears and even though he may have been a realist, he also had a heart. And he couldn’t bring himself to hammer the bad news into Time and Wild alike. 

Hyrule pried himself away from the scene and had Wild get some logs of firewood and a flintstone from his Slate, still immensely fascinated by the other plane of reality he seemed to store everything in.

He grabbed the logs from where they had dropped and arranged them into a campfire that he lit quickly.

“Wolfie?!” Wild's alarmed cry made him look up. Time had pulled back from the wolf as he started choking, gagging and pawing at his muzzle. “What’s happening?!” Wind wanted to know, his voice pitching high. Holding his breath, Time grabbed the wolf's head and pried his jaw open. Wolfie had been passive for the last minutes, but now he started thrashing and tried to pull free. 

“Hold his head, Wild!” Time ordered and Wild wrapped his arms around the wolfs head and held him close to his chest.

“Please, stay calm …” he begged him in a strained voice.

Without further warning, Time reached into the wolf’s jaw. 

***

“Woah! Hey!!” Warriors yelped shocked as he stared at Time, who was fishing around in Wolfie's throat like he was trying to get something out of his backpack that he couldn’t see. “What the _hell_ , Time?!”

Time just shushed him and reached further down, almost all the way in to his shoulder, his face scrunched in concentration. “There”, he gasped and slowly began to pull the thing out that Wolfie was choking on. It came free with a thud. Wolfie tore his head back out of Wild's embrace and coughed and coughed and coughed, thick, dark blood splattering from his jaw. His head dropped to the ground, whining pitifully.

Time looked down on him, more out of breath than he would have liked to be and looked at the clump in his hand. It was covered in grime and was about the size of his palm. “What is it?” Wild wanted to know and summoned his old shirt from the Sheikah Slate. Time used it to wipe the thing clean. It was a sharp pointed Bokoblin horn that he must have swallowed on accident.

Time dropped his hand into his lap and looked down at Wolfie again. “Hang on …” he whispered quietly, discarded the horn into the grass and put his hands back on Wolfie's head. The touch seemed to be welcome as the wolf moved to rest his head on his lap again. Time swallowed dryly, having long stopped trying to keep his calm in front of the rest of the heroes.

He could not help but feel that Twilight was dying, right in his arms - and he could not even begin to imagine in how much he must have been in. Powerless, he was forced to watch his pup whine, his eyes squeezed shut. His chest was expanding a little less with every breath and the blood. By now, it had stained Time's tunic.

“It’s going to be okay, Pup. You protected Wind and Wild and they are fine and you’re going to be fine, too. Just wait, by this time tomorrow, you can have some of Wild’s stew and you’re going to be all patched up.”

That was quite possibly the biggest lie Time had ever told - except for maybe that one time he had accidentally broke Malon's favourite vase in the world and had blamed it all on the cuccos. 

Thinking of Malon made his heart burn even more. He still remembered his wife's glowing face when he had introduced him to Twilight after he had tortured her with not telling for an entire day. And the two had gotten along like a house on fire. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Twilight this happy and beaming.

God … what was Malon going to say if Twilight died? How was Time supposed to tell her? No-

Twilight was going to be fine. He had to believe it. “It’s going to be okay.” he said loud enough for them all to hear.

***

Wild kept his hands in Wolfie's wet fur, holding on to him as if he was scared he would vanish as soon as he let go of him. A million thoughts were rushing through his head, most of them revolved around how all of this was his fault.

Twilight had been acting weird all day. He should have stopped him from marching down into the swamp, knowing how dangerous the place was. He should have stopped Sky from blowing him back. He should have kept a better eye on Wind, should have pulled him out of the morass faster. He should have, he should have, he should have-

With a groan, he leaned forward and buried his face in Wolfie's neck, wrapping his arms around him without touching too many of his injuries. “I’m so sorry”, he croaked. He could tell just by the look on Time’s face how bad it was. Of course - he had been hit by a Guardian’s beam head on. The fact that he was still alive was a small miracle.

Wild knew for sure that he had not pulled through one of those.

Wolfie’s breathing was flat and irregular under his palms and his heartbeat was intermittent. He had not stopped whining or howling since they had moved him out of the water. Just in how much pain did he have to be in?

In all the times Wolfie had joined him on his quest, he had never been injured this badly. Anything that had gone wrong, Wild had always treated with a good portion of grilled meat and the occasional potion. But he was out of either and this was not the situation. Wild kept his eyes squeezed shut tightly and held on to him. Wolfie shifted so that he was laying on his side on Wild’s legs, his shoulders pressed into his stomach. Wild lifted his head and absentmindedly began to pull little clumps of dirt and branches from Wolfie's fur. He had done something similar once when he had freed Wolfie's legs off snowballs after a long and fun track through the Hebra mountains.

Wild's lower lip quivered, remembering the way Wolfie had bounced through drafts of snow and bitten at snowballs Wild had thrown at him.

“Please don’t leave me …” he whispered quietly and saw Wolfie's ear twitch. He let out a soft woof and it took all of Wild's concentrated power of will not to burst into tears. Even now. Even now Wolfie was comforting him. 

Just what in the world was taking Sky and Legend so long?

***

Just when Wild had thought that, Sky and Legend appeared at the top of the hill, jogging down with their arms loaded full of backpacks full of potions and bandages. 

By then, Wolfie’s breathing was barely visible anymore. It had taken twenty minutes tops for the two to leave and return but they had felt like twenty years straight out of hell.

  
“We’re here”; Sky gasped, clearly having overstrained his stamina. “Tassaren helped out, he gave us some water and cloth to clean the wounds. He’s still- he’s- … right?” he stammered and pulled out the big canteen full of water and a couple of clean rags. 

“He is”, Time said and sounded a lot calmer than he felt. Legend opened one of the bottles and a fairy popped out and began a tight circled flight around Wolfie's chest and throat. When she was done, she flitted away and Wolfie’s breathing was a little easier.

As Wild and Time got to work on cleaning the wounds, Legend and Four set to soak the bandages in Red Potion. 

Warriors snatched a couple of bandages and a potion for Wind and went over to help the little sailor who had been terribly, terribly quiet. Hyrule used the bandages to wrap his leg properly and Wind drank the potion just as quietly as he had been before, his eyes never leaving Wolfie.

“Hey, kid. Does your leg hurt much?” Warriors asked as he sat down with shoulder and thigh pressed to him. Wind just shook his head. “He must hurt so bad …” he whispered “He did it to protect us. What if he … what if he …” he stammered but Warriors put his hand to his mouth. “Shush. It’s going to be okay. You know Wolfie is tough as nails.” 

And if Warriors wasn’t completely behind on the whole situation and Wolfie and Twilight really were one and the same - well then Wolfie was nearly indestructible. 

After all, Twilight was always the first one to wake up, the first one to take first watch. 

The first one who would carry Wind on his back if they had to march through especially high waters. 

And Twilight was crazy strong - Warriors had never seen anyone whirl around such a massive ball and chain with such ease as Twilight had once done to clear their path free from frozen over Snow Boulders.

No, there was no way Twilight was going to die from an explosion. 

Wind nodded, both hands clasped tightly around the bottle. 

He turned his head and hid it in Warriors scarf, his sobs muffled by the fabric.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please, please, please come talk to me about Linked Universe on my twitter @UnwoundFuture !


	3. I watch you fast asleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said three chapters but man, I don't even know anymore. Maybe four, maybe more?
> 
> Thank you so much for all your kind words and comments I am beyond thrilled at all the reactions!!! ;__;
> 
> New song for the new chapter-title!
> 
> Also took some liberties with the design of the stables!

* * *

Time and Wild were extremely thorough in cleaning Wolfie’s wounds and wrapping him up in two layers of bandages. There was a lot of mass to cover but the potion on the bandages seemed to do wonders. By the time they were done, Wolfie had fallen asleep, breathing evenly. 

Just when Wild thought they were safe and Wolfie would be fine it started pouring buckets.

"Shoot." Time cursed and scrambled to his feet, rummaging through one of the backpacks. He found one of the blankets and spread it on the ground. 

"Quick, we need to get him back to the stable." he said.

It took Time, Wild, Warriors and Legend to lift up the wolf and Sky to pull the blanket underneath him. 

With their makeshift stretcher done, the four of them lifted him up and started the trek back to the stable. 

With Four's help, Wind climbed onto Sky’s back and Hyrule gathered up their remaining supplies and followed them hastily.

***

"Holy moly, that's one big wolf!!" Tasseren called out as soon as as the four stumbled into the stable with their injured friend. The group was soaked to the bone and out of breath. 

"Sorry Tasseren. He needs the shelter." Wild said as if the wolf placed on the ground in the far back of the stable wasn't occupying almost the entirety of the wooden ground. They carefully put him in front of the fireplace. 

Even though they had hurried up, Wolfie was just as drenched as them and shivering. The whole carrying around business had woken him up again and he whined in protest. 

“I know ... “ Wild said quietly and brushed his hand through his fur. “Just a few more minutes and you will be all nice and cozy, I promise.” he mumbled and looked around. 

What could they use to dry him off? Using the blankets of the beds would be rude-

Maybe Twilight's blankets? He knew the other carried at least three with him at all times. One for him, two for spare for the others. 

While the other Links were getting changed out of their soggy tunics and spread them in front of the fire, Wild located Twilight's backpack in the pile of luggage next to one of the beds.

It was easy to recognize because it was the biggest and Wild liked it the most - it was made from rough, dark brown leather, a detailed set of goat horns stitched on the front with a soft orange thread. It always smelled like wild herbs and well- goat. A fishing rod was sticking out of it, meticulously wrapped in white linen rags. 

Wild used his slate to quick change into his climbing shirt and some dark pants that he believed belonged to the Dark Set? It didn't even matter. His wet clothes disappeared in a plop of blue energy and he was dry again save for his hair.

He shoved Wind's backpack aside and reached for the straps of Twilight's, pulling it close to him. How in the world Twilight managed to carry this all day was a riddle to him. The Ball and Chain at the bottom weighted at least a ton, maybe even more. Two of the blankets were attached to the bottom of the backpack along with Twilight's treasured lantern, so Wild set to put away two bottles full of bee larvae, a blue, scaly armor that he had never seen Twilight wear and his sharp shooter tool before he finally found the third blanket among a box full of stamps and a very used looking notebook.

Wild made a note to ask Twilight about both of these things once he was better.

Behind him, the wolf started gagging.

***

Wild swiped around to see that Time and Sky were already at Wolfie's side. The sound he was making was absolutely dreadful and filled Wild's stomach with ice. From his position he watched the wolf throw up several clumps and bits of corrupted blood and in the mess, seemingly two more horns and something that looked suspiciously like the tip of a spear. 

Sky rubbed his back in a soothing matter and felt helpless.

He remembered when his Loftwing had been sick once and had thrown up a weird greenish-orange liquid. He had needed two days and several heimlich maneuvers to get better because while Sky loved his bird - he could also say for sure that he was a little stupid and had the weirdest anatomy. 

So sometimes, orange chunks had gotten stuck in his throat and Sky had to help get them out. It had taken him a week to find out that his Loftwing had flown over to the bar one night, broke into the house and had slurped a pot full of uncooked pumpkin soup.  
Of course he had not locked his bird in afterwards, but he had made extra sure that the bar would be properly locked.

Wolfie was choking, too, but Sky had absolutely no idea how to help him. After all, his ribs were injured and they could not just jostle his body like that. His lungs could get damaged in the process. But then again - how much was Wolfie hurting, really? The burn wounds were bad, even with the Red Potion bandages, but he seemed to have swallowed quite a bit of monster pieces. How much had they damaged his throat or his stomach? What effect was the corrupted blood having on him? Did he have internal bleeding?

Wolfie huffed and dropped his head on the ground, eyes half closed. Wild was at his side then and used one of the blankets to clean the blood off his maw and pat at the scratches and cuts all over his face. When he had cleaned him, he discarded the blanket and used the second one to dry him off carefully.

While he did so, Time and Sky began to pull the wet bandages off one by one and repeated the process from before. 

Soaking the bandages in red potion, wrapping him up, add another layer of regular bandages.

The process of drying Wolfie and tending to his wounds took at least an hour. 

No one talked much during that hour. Anyone who couldn’t help either sat at the side, took care of Wind or - in Hyrule’s case - tried to stay awake. The battle during the Blood Moon had not injured him but it had definitely taken its toll and he just felt so exhausted. Wind had long dropped into the blankets and snored quietly - pain and stress having finally gotten the best of the little sailor.

Even Wolfie seemed to have fallen asleep. Or at least, Hyrule hoped that he had not lost consciousness. 

Wild shuffled over to Tasseren who was still awake and had watched this all from a safe distance. “Do you have some spare blankets? Or … anything we can cover him with? He is shaking and …” he asked him in a low voice, losing the end of the sentence as he spoke. He seemed just as tired, now that all the adrenaline had worn off and Wolfie seemed in safe waters for now. 

“Hm …” Tasseren made, his arms crossed and chewing his lips in thought. “I don’t think I have anything big enough to cover him but- this might work.” he turned around to reach into one of the shelves above the horse registry counter. From there, he grabbed a thick and slightly hairy horse blanket that he heaved into Wild’s arms - the hero nearly staggered from the surprising weight of the woolen blanket that was suddenly filling his arms. The outer side of the blanket was bright yellow and decorated with intricate brown, woven patterns. „Thanks Tasseren.“ Wild said and even though he could barely keep his eyes open, he sounded earnest.

Tasseren just nodded and seeing that the situation seemed to be sort of under control and that the beast wouldn’t suddenly get up and maul them all to death, he decided to call it a day - or rather a night - and retreat into his little apartment just underneath the roof of the stable, climbing a little ladder that was hidden in the registry area.

***

„He’s asleep, right?“ Wild asked Time who was still sitting at Wolfie's head, having him rest it on his lap while he in turn sat against the fireplace, soaking in the warmth from the fire. Without him noticing, his eyes had slipped shut so when Wild approached him, he jerked awake and looked down at the Pup. His eyes were closed and he was breathing regularly, but he couldn’t detect any eye movements and his ears lay flat against his head. He was shivering and Time dearly wished it was because of the cold and that none of his wounds had gotten infected in the process of pulling him out of the swamp. 

With a deep breath, he brushed his fingers through his fur, touching the crystal on his forehead. „I think he is unconscious…“ he said in a rough voice. Only then did he notice the blanket Wild was just spreading over Wolfie's big form and for the first time in hours, his expression softened. „You look very tired, Wild.“ he said „Twilight is going to have my head if I don’t send you to bed soon.“ he said quietly, seeing that almost all of them had turned in.

No wonder, it was almost three am and they desperately needed some sleep. Time noticed Warriors had placed himself next to Wind, burying them both under two blankets, and Wind had simply sought out the comfort and pressed his head into Warriors chest. It made for a charming scene. 

„You look a lot more tired than I do, old man.“ Wild snickered, even though he didn’t particularly feel like laughing. He had grabbed a pillow and a blanket from the bed he had previously paid for and seemed about to settle in next to Wolfie. He rolled himself in as tightly as he could and snuggled close to Wolfies back. As soon as he could hide his head in Wolfie's neck, he was out like a light.

Time watched this with a little sigh and a soft smile and looked down at the wolf, who even in sleep seemed to be in pain as he let out low whines and yelps. It only caused Time to continue his fur scratches, foolishly hoping it would drive away whatever nightmare or pains his Pup might be having.

„Don’t worry“, he whispered „you’re not alone. We‘re all here and fine.“

***

It could have been not more than two or three hours when Time was woken up once more. Wolfie in his lap was awake and his shiver had turned into full-blown shaking. The frown was back on his face immediately and he pressed his hand against Wolfie’s nose. It was dry and way too warm and when he checked his ears, he found the same result. They were almost hot. 

A fever it was, then.

That was something, Time knew how to work against. Their ranch dog had been sick a couple of times in his life and Time even knew what a feverish cow looked like, too. “I’ll be right back”, he whispered and gently placed Wolfie’s head down on a pillow they had dropped for him. He woofed once and his eyes slipped close.

Time grabbed his own backpack - one made of soft leather, a yellow bandana knotted around one of the straps and painted with blue hylian symbols - and untied the bandana and grabbed his canteen full of water. As he roamed around in it, his hand accidentally grabbed one of his masks. Time felt the surface of the mask with his fingertips and pulled it out as an idea came to him.

It was the Mask of Truth.

He sat back down, soaked the yellow fabric in cool liquid and gently draped it across Wolfie’s ears. Normally, he would go for the paws but one of his paws had been caught in the Guardian's attack and had been … nearly burned beyond recognition. His other front paw had been burned badly as well. They were wrapped in thick gauze and resembled stumps more than actual paws.

Up until now Time had not wanted to imagine what these injuries must mean for Twilight’s human body. How were his hands going to look? Or his face? The cool cloth on his ears seemed to bring Wolfie some relief, so Time gently traced the various deep scratches and cuts across his muzzle and face. One cut barely stopped above his eye and he was lucky it hadn’t gone all the way down. He grabbed the horse blanket and wrapped it tighter around the wolf, tugging him in without waking Wild. “Drink something.” he urged him and placed the bowl of his mess kit full of water in front of the wolf. Though it took some effort for Wolfie to lift his head, he lapped it up in a matter of seconds and Time gave him a second serving that disappeared soon, too. 

“I’m going to try something, okay, Pup? Don’t be frightened.” Time asked him quietly and when the wolf looked up at him, he slipped the Mask of Truth onto his face. No matter how old he was, the mask always fit perfectly. In the half dark of the silent stable, the yellow eye in the center of the mask glowed a little and Wolfie flinched.

“Don’t worry-” Time wanted to say some more but just then, the mask tuned itself to its surroundings, really coming to life on his face. A white noise filled his ears almost immediately - a noise he remembered well. It was because of Wild’s slate. But this time, Time was braced for it and he somehow managed to focus on the other voice he could hear. Or rather, the emotions that invaded his mind all at once, the most prominent being pain. Closely followed by despair.

Twilight’s voice in his head was echoey and consisted of mostly two words.

_It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. Ithurtshurtshurts-_

Time took his head in both his hands and looked down on him. 

“Twi, I can hear you. I-...where does it hurt most? Is there anything you need?” he asked him.

Wolfie’s thoughts seem to focus on him now and he let out a whine.

_Everything. Everything hurts. This body- it’s too big. It feels like I’m being torn apart. It hurts, hurtshurtshurts_

It didn’t seem that Twilight had a lot of control over his instincts right now and so Time just looked down on him and felt none the wiser.

“Can’t you shift back? I know it’s going to hurt but … at least you won’t have to be in this body anymore?” he asked him and Wolfie shook his head.

_Don’t know- I can’t- I can’t hear her. She always guides my mind back to the crystal so I can transform back but her voice- she- she used to be- with me- but now- she_

Wolfie let out an agonized howl, barely louder than Time’s voice. 

_Midna!_

This name meant nothing to Time.

Twilight’s thoughts were a mess of pain, longing and despair- Time didn’t know how to handle it. 

He had never heard Twilight speak in such a sorrowful tone, had never heard him suffer so and just for a moment, he wished he would have left the Mask of Truth in his backpack. His heart felt heavy as he focused back down on the wolf.

_I’m sorry. I’m sorry I frightened you all, I’m sorry I attacked Wind and Sky. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry, I don’t know what’s gotten into me I lost control- I’m so sorry._

He apologized over and over and Time squeezed his eyes shut and pulled the mask off. No longer did he want to listen to Twilight like this. 

His proud and strong protegé did not deserve to be humiliated in such a way. 

Instead, he wrapped his arms around the wolf’s head and leaned his forehead to his.

“It’s okay”, he assured him and hoped his voice did not give away the tears burning in his eyes. “It’s okay, they are all alive, because of you. Because you protected us even while you were fighting the curse. Please, just focus on yourself, on getting better-” his voice hitched in his throat and he needed a moment to gather himself.

“We will get you out of this body and you will be your normal self again. I promise.” he croaked.

Wild lay with his back pressed to the shaking form of the wolf and stared at the opposite wall, his eyes wide open. Silent tears were dripping down his nose and cheek and stained the pillow underneath him.

His Hyrule - his _home_ \- had done this to Twilight.

***

In the morning, Wolfie was still shaking but he was fast asleep now. Wild pushed himself into a sitting position and glanced around. It must have been at least 10 am. New travelers were shuffling into the stable and occupied the last two remaining beds, staring at the wolf on the ground with big eyes and mumbled among themselves.

Wild rubbed his face and noticed that Hyrule was up as well, talking to Rensa who was manning the counter as apparently, Tasseren was still upstairs.

One by one, the other Links woke up and the morning struggle for first bathroom uses began. In the end - like always - Warriors won and was the first to occupy the cell adjacent to the stable and that could be accessed through a door between two of the beds.

Wild gently shook Time awake, who must have a back pain out of hell since he had slept while still leaning against the fireplace.

“Time …” he whispered “I know you talked to Twi yesterday. What did he say?” he wanted to know, cutting to the chase right away. Time needed a minute or two to comprehend what the hell Wild meant. 

Even after all these years, he was still terrible at waking up.

He sat up properly and stretched until his back popped, Wolfie’s head slipping off his lap and gently falling back into the pillow underneath him. With bleary eyes, he looked at Wild and finally - finally - recalled what had happened the night before. 

All of the sudden, Twilight’s desperate voice was ringing through his ears again. He glanced at the wolf and reached out to feel his ears. Still hot. It did feel as if the wet cloth had brought the fever down a little, though. By now, the fabric had completely dried up.

“He told me that his whole body hurts …” he replied quietly “It’s too big. When I asked him about transforming back, he just said he couldn’t. Apparently someone or something helps him focus, but he lost the voice.” Time said.

Wild sat with his hand resting on Wolfie’s shaking shoulders and stared at the ground with a thoughtful expression. 

“Maybe … maybe Zelda can help. She has the power of Sealing maybe … maybe she can help him transform back?” he asked, chewing his lower lip.

“How are we supposed to get him to your Zelda, then?” Legend asked. He must have overheard. Or had spontaneously developed teleporting because there was no other way Wild knew of that would allow him to suddenly stand with them.

“Wolfie can’t walk. Look at his paws. Wind might need a couple more days to get rid of the broken leg. And we can’t carry them both.” he snapped and crossed his arms, an annoyed expression on his face.

Time knew it was because he was worried, too.

“I took care of that. Well … almost.” Hyrule said and had everyone's attention. He was standing on Wolfie’s other side and even though he was still lying down, he reached up to Hyrule’s knees.

“Rensa says they have an old wagon in the back of the stable that they would be willing to lend to us. All we need would be a horse.” he said.

Wild knew it was very much unethical to capture a wild horse and put in front of a wagon without at least a little time for getting used to a life in captivity. But if they didn’t make small sacrifices, Twilight could lose his life in a span of days. 

Because despite their medicine and the warmth - he wasn’t getting any better. He was still shaking and his bandages were spotted with blood. 

He stood up. “I’m going to take care of the horse”, he said “someone should change Wolfie’s bandages. The rest should pack up. We’ll leave by noon.”

“To where?” Time asked and stood up as well.

“Akkala. That’s where my Zelda is. I’m sure she’ll know a way to help him get back into his body.” Wild said and decided to tell them later that with a wagon, it was probably a three day trip across the entirety of his Hyrule.

Horses first - keeping Wolfie alive for three more days later. 

***

By noon, the group had pulled all the straw out of the wagon and bound one horse to the front of it - it had taken some effort from Time and Wild to get it in there - and Wild had found himself and Time their own mount to ride escort and lead the way.

“We really could have used Twilight’s help there …” Warriors mumbled under his breath. He stood next to the horse and held it by the reins so it wouldn’t just start galloping away. All the while, he tried to soothe it by patting its neck and talking to it. It was a black horse with a white mane - strong and fast undoubtedly. A mare, as far as Warriors could tell.

Wild had tamed himself a dark brown horse with a white snout - a stallion that seemed equally as fast and headstrong.

Time’s horse was a grey pinto with kind eyes, a bit slower than the other two.

“Horses are a lot more difficult to handle than I would have thought.” Hyrule huffed next to him and watched how Wind climbed into the seat of the wagon awkwardly. Since he had driven a locomotive (whatever that was) and a boat, he had declared himself most suitable to ride the cart and took the reins from Warriors' hands to turn the wagon around so he could bring it closer to the stable.

That way, Time, Sky, Legend and Warriors could finally go and lift Wolfie from his position in the stable. This time, Tasseren and Rensa decided to help out too and heaved the wolf into the wagon, where he rested safely between leftover straw and more blankets and pillows and their backpacks. 

Through all of this, Wolfie was fast asleep and Time did not like this at all. As the rest of the Links climbed the wagon and tried to settle in between the wolf - Legend and Warriors joining Wind at the front - Sky, Four and Hyrule on Wolfie watch - Wind turned his attention to Wild, who just climbed his own horse.

“How long until Akkala?” he asked and Wild grabbed the reins a bit tighter.

“Three days. Two if we hurry.” he said and Time forced himself not to go slack-jawed. Luckily it was Wind who did. “What?! It’s THAT far away?!” Legend mimicked his expression and Wild winced under their scolding looks.

“I’m sorry. But I’m sure if we cut some breaks down, we can make it in two days.” he said and before Legend could say much more, Wild gave his horse a gentle kick in the side and set it in motion.

The whole entourage followed behind and started the long trip towards North Akkala.

***

“Well …” Warriors spoke up four or five pretty uneventful hours into the trip, his arms resting on his thighs. He leaned back in the wooden seat and let his gaze wander. “This place really IS beautiful.” 

According to Wild, they just left a little forest surrounding Batrea Lake. The forest gave way to a beautiful open field and opened the view to a stunning volcano that rose at the horizon.

“Oooh!” Wind called out, covering his eyes against the sun that was shining down on them. It certainly was the perfect day for traveling and it really showed just how beautiful Wild’s Hyrule actually was. 

The smell of last night’s rain was still lingering in the air, mixing with wild flowers and tree resin. Every so often, large birds who picked at the dirt in the middle of the road flew away with panicked screeches. 

A soft breeze was blowing above their heads as they drove past rolling feels of rich, emerald green. 

Sturdy mountains rose to their right, far into the sky and Wild recalled a time he had climbed all the way to the top. There was no doubt in Legend’s mind that Wild had climbed every single mountain in this beautiful world.

Everything seemed so untouched and safe from civilisation. 

It truly was a wild land and Time could understand why Wild had been looking forward to show it to them. 

  
If only Twilight could have seen what they saw. He would have loved it. Time let himself fall back to the end of the wagon to peek inside, riding his pinto a little slower. 

“How is he doing?” he asked Four, who had taken his place on Wolfie’s head and renewed the wet cloth on his ears every now and then. Four had a grim expression and Time noticed that he had one hand shoved under Wolfie’s chest - palm pressed to where his heart was beating.

He let out a big and deep sigh. “It’s- I don’t know.” he finally said “He is still breaking into shivers and I can’t get his fever down. One of his wounds won’t stop bleeding. He’s still coughing a lot, an hour ago he threw up blood again.” he listed. 

Luckily, they had covered the wagon in fabric and blankets and so they had bundled up the messy blanket and shoved it into the farest corner of the wagon.

The worst thing - Four thought - were the noises. Even in his restless sleep, Wolfie yelped and whined in agony and to be forced to sit aside and let it all happen was torture. Four could tell that Sky felt the same.

“We made him drink some Red Potion but I think he threw up a lot of it again.” he looked at Time, not surprised about the other’s sorrowful expression. Four wished he knew how to console him. Wished he could just lie and say that Wolfie - Twilight - was going to be okay. 

But he didn’t know how. He couldn’t sugarcoat things just because Time looked sad.

“So-” Warriors said and turned around in his seat to look at the group in the back of the wagon. “Twilight can transform into a wolf. We have plenty of time now, anyone care to explain?”

Time looked at him through the wagon and let out a sigh. He supposed there was no point in beating around the bush. He rested his fists on the horse’s withers and combed two fingers through its grey hair. 

“I don’t know everything”, he finally began “but I believe that during his quest, he came in contact with some sort of dark energy that transformed him into Wolfie. At first, he had no control, but later on, he obtained an item - he calls it the Shadow Crystal I think - that helped him transform at will.

Apparently, he had to solve a large part of his quest in this form but he was always met with distrust, no matter where he went. The people of his Hyrule are apparently scared of wolves.” he said and Legend snorted.

“How-”, he said “Have they ever looked at Wolfie? I mean, the actual Wolfie?! He looks like a big puppy.” and he only said that because he knew Wolfie couldn’t hear him right now. For the first time in two days, Sky chortled out a laugh.

“That’s true.” he grinned. 

Outside of fighting, the Wolfie they knew had big, kind eyes, was a little cheeky in stealing leftover foods - all the times Legend especially had caved in and shared his meat with him because of his stupid puppy eyes (Twilight that bastard!) - and was sometimes at their side when they woke up from nightmares and comforted them with soft and wet nose kisses all over their face and a head shoved into someone’s palm so that they were forced to give him a good back scrub until they had calmed down. 

Wind especially had freaked out when the wolf had first joined the frenzy of a battle and had fought alongside them. He had taken a shine to the wolf right away, especially when the animal had stayed afterwards and had allowed Wind to climb his back and ride him around and left no chance unused to tussle with him in the grass.

More often than not, Wolfie had protected Sky from incoming attacks when the latter had been too out of breath to defend himself during fights or had barked loud enough for the others to wake up to help Sky if he ever had an asthma attack in the middle of the night. Sometimes, Sky had thought he had seen Wolfie through half closed eyes but when he had properly woken up and calmed down, it has always been Twilight at his side.

Wild tried his hardest not to think of all the hours Wolfie had spent at his side as they raced through Hyrule, all the times Wolfie had snuggled up and waited patiently until Wild came out of another flashback, had protected him from nasty bats or Bokoblins that wanted to use his moment of weakness.

The Wolfie in their wagon was nothing like their beloved companion. Aside from his size, he still had the sharp, mismatched teeth that were barely covered by his lips and all his features seemed elongated and sharp. His eyes were smaller and even though he was out of commission, he still looked terrifying.

“How did you know it was him?” Sky asked and finally pried his eyes away to look at Time. He pulled a face. “I don’t know”, he said “I just … just felt it. When I first saw Wolfie I just felt that it was Twilight. I can’t explain.” he shrugged and cast a glance at the wolf in the back.

“Who else knew??” Legend wanted to know and was surprised when both Four and Wild rose their hands. “How?!” he wanted to know. Four pulled his hand away from underneath Wolfie’s chest and poured water over the yellow bandana that he placed back on Wolfie’s ears.

“I caught him red handed, so to speak.” he said “I was out foraging for berries and herbs for Wild’s dinner when I saw him behind some bushes and transformed. It was weird.” he said - carefully leaving out the fact that it had actually been Wolfie who had seen him first. 

“With me it was the same like with Time. Wolfie was my companion during most of my travels. When I saw Twilight, I felt this … connection with him. I just knew. And he recognized me too, of course.” 

Ah, Hyrule thought, that explained why Time, Wild and Twilight were so close to each other.

Sky peaked out of the wagon between Warriors’ and Wind’s shoulders “Where did Wolfie come from, back then?” he asked. Wild looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“I don’t … know. He would just appear at my side. As if he was teleporting. I asked Twilight about it once and he said it wasn’t much different on his side. Sometimes, he would just be teleported away. Maybe it was a gift from Hylia or something.”

  
Wild didn’t particularly belief in the goddess but he liked to think that every once in a while, she had something good waiting for them. Something good like a companion.

“And does it always sound like that …?” Sky asked quietly and Wild looked at him with concern “Does what sound like what?” Warriors wanted to know as Sky sat back into the wagon, running one hand over Wolfie’s flank. 

“When he shifted last night it sounded like … like his bones were breaking. Remember?” he asked and Four looked down on the wolf as well. 

“I don’t know”, he said “I haven’t seen him shift since then.” Time and Wild shook their heads as well. 

Twilight was always very careful to shift out of sight. Probably something he had been forced to learn on his journey as well.

The sun was nearly over the horizon when they reached a fork in the path. The right one was leading further uphill - the last hour of traveling had been nothing but uphill and the left hill went over a soft slope and towards a stable they could see in the distance. They had gotten closer to Death Mountain, so the air was warm despite the oncoming night. 

“That’s Foothill Stable”, Wild said as he nudged his horse down the left path. “We’re already halfway there. If we leave early tomorrow morning, we might make it by tomorrow evening.” he said.

The horse in front of the wagon was antsy and exhausted at the same time and Wild couldn’t blame it, of course. Luckily, it was only another ten minutes down to the stable. A young woman met them as soon as they pulled up to the stable and introduced herself as Gaile. “My, your horses look beat! Have you been traveling all day?” she scolded Wild instead of greeting him and when Wind had moved the wagon to the side so it wouldn’t be too in the way but they still could leave, she and Wild began untying the horse from the wagon. 

Warriors volunteered to help with the horses and it certainly wasn’t because of Gailes pretty face or anything.

Time was glad to be off horseback for a little while and instead climbed into the back of the wagon to relief Four, Hyrule and Sky off their Wolfie duty. Hyrule was glad to finally be able to stretch his legs. 

“Was he awake at all? Except for that time when he threw up?” Time asked before Four could slip out as well. Four shook his head. “No, not really. In and out at best.” he said and Time nodded.

“I’m staaarviiing!” Wind announced from outside and Four’s stomach growled in agreement. Four gave Time one last look before he hopped off the wagon and joined the group around the fireplace, where Wild had already began cooking. 

Time settled down next to Wolfie and set to change his bandages one more and look his wounds over. The Red Potion had done wonders - his burns looked a lot better and most of them had stopped bleeding. But - as he had feared and as Four had said before - a wound just at his shoulderblade was still oozing with puss and blood and had gotten badly infected. Time grabbed his backpack and rifled through it until he found another bottle of red potion. Their last as far as he could tell. He chewed his lower lip but decided to use it anyway. He poured a bit over the wound and began cleaning it with a piece of fabric. It was not a pretty task to poke around in the infected and inflamed skin and Wolfie twitched occasionally.

Little by little, Time removed lose, dead tissue and burned skin and cleaned out the wound as best as he could. He knew it was mean, he knew it caused unnecessary pain but at this point, he would do almost anything just so that Wolfie would open his eyes at least once. 

He got his wish in a way he should have seen coming. As he prodded around in the wound and tried to remove an especially nasty piece of charred muscle, Wolfie’s head suddenly snapped up and his teeth clamped down on Time’s arm. The hero of time let out a surprised and pained yell and yanked his arm away and when Wolfie realized what he had done, his eyes went big and he tried to push to his feet but his paws couldn’t carry him and so he slammed down again, howling.

The commotion was enough to lure Warriors over. 

“What happened?!” he wanted to know. Time held his arm to his chest and had his hand reached out towards Wolfie. “Did he bite you?!” Warriors jumped into the wagon and placed himself between Time and the confused wolf who was desperately trying to scramble into a standing position, his eyes darting left and right in a panicked expression. “It was my fault”, Time said right away “I cleaned one of his wounds, it caused him pain. It’s normal to lash out.” he looked towards Wolfie.

“Please, Twilight, calm down. It’s fine, I shouldn’t have been so rough. Please, just lay back down, you’re gonna reopen your wounds.” he said in a steady voice even though his arm hurt like hell. 

Wolfie focused on his voice and flopped down on his belly again, but tried to keep as far away from Time as he could. Time needed one look into his eyes to know exactly what he was thinking.

“We need to bandage him back up. The wounds are still too fresh to be exposed like this.” Time said and when Warriors slipped over to Wolfie’s side, armed with a roll of bandages, he let out a yelp of protest and nudged Warriors arm away towards Time. “Wolfie- come on. We-” but Wolfie shoved his arm away again and Warriors bit the inside of his cheek, watching the wounded animal.

“Fine. Time first”, he said with a sigh and turned around, pulling Time’s arm close to him. Luckily, the protector on Time’s arm had caught most of the bite’s impact so that the actual bite wound underneath was nothing more than a flesh wound.

“What happened?” Hyrule’s and Sky’s heads appeared at the back of the wagon just as Warriors finished wrapping Time up.

“Nothing. Just an accident”, Time said right away and grabbed a bandage to get back to work on Wolfie, this time accompanied by Warriors. 

When they were done, Wolfie whined and pressed his head against Time's stomach. With a little sigh, Time put his hand on his head. "It's alright, Pup. It doesn't even hurt anymore." He whispered. Hyrule and Sky had watched the scene with worry and would have stayed longer if Wild hadn't called for dinner just a couple of minutes later. 

Warriors was about to climb out as well but halted, one of his legs already touching down on the ground.

"Should we bring you something?" he asked. Naturally, for Time it was out of the question to leave Wolfie alone. He just nodded "Please." he said. Warriors acknowledged it with a nod of his own and jumped down, disappearing out of view.

Time exhaled and eased himself against the canvas of the wagon. Wolfie in front of him looked nothing short of terrible and had tried to bring as much distance between them as he could - afraid that he would snap again and hurt Time even more. Just when Time wanted to reassure him that he was fine, someone else elegantly - given that he was loaded with wooden plates full of food - climbed into the wagon and plopped down in the space between them. "Here you go", Wild said and handed Time a bowl and a plate. "Carrot Stew and Meat Skewers. Dig in.” he said and got to work on his own serving of dinner. 

He smiled a little when he noticed that Wolfie was up and was tentatively sniffing towards his Skewers. The sun had sunken behind the horizon and the only light that was reaching them came from the stable and the campfire. 

Wild set his stuff aside, grabbed Twilight’s backpack once more and untied the lantern from a strap on the side. He lightened it up and placed it so they had their own little campfire. 

Time was eating quietly, a little exhausted from being on horseback all day. As always, Wild’s food was delicious.

Once Wild was done eating, he turned to Wolfie. “Here, I brought you some cooked fowl”, he said and pulled the plate full of meat closer to Wolfie. “You haven’t eaten anything in two days, you should try to have some of this.” he said and Wolfie huffed, giving the chicken a lick once. Wild got the feeling he wasn’t particularly hungry. But he was awake now and Wild needed to seize this moment to help him get some strength back into his body. 

Carefully, Wolfie opened his jaw - unfamiliar with its size and the amount of teeth - and scraped one piece of poultry from the plate. He needed only two bites to chow it down and swallow it. 

After a moment of pause, it seemed that he could keep the poultry down and so he continued to eat carefully.

“Take your time .” Wild said quietly and seemed satisfied with the result. 

Finally, he turned to Time. “You should sleep in the stable tonight”, he said and Time perked up and struggled not to glare.

“I want to stay with Twilight.” he said right away and Wild shook his head.

“I’m going to stay with him. You slept sitting up last night and you’ve been on a horse all day. Please just-” Wild stumbled over his words, not sure how to phrase what he wanted to say. Time was always so reasonable, so on top of everyone else and - opposed to himself and Twilight for that matter - knew when to stop and take care of himself. Ever since Twilight had been hit by the Guardian, Time was besides himself. He had stayed with him all this time, had taken care of his injuries and during all of this, had completely ignored his own needs. All the while, he had looked absolutely devastated.

Wild didn’t want to impose on Time, would never dare to question him like this but he knew someone had to watch out for Time when he couldn’t do it for himself.

“I’m just worried about you. We all are- we’ve never seen you like this.” he said and looked up at Time, nervous for his reaction.

Instead of a scowl, Time smiled a little. “Thanks, Wild. You’re right. I haven’t been looking out for myself or the others.” he heaved himself to his feet and looked at Wolfie, who was still chowing down on the poultry. 

After a moment of hesitation, he reached out and patted his back. Wolfie let out a soft whine and looked after him as he climbed out of the wagon and walked over to the rest of the group that was still lingering about the cookpot and fought over the leftovers.

“Aah!” Wild moaned and hid his face in the fur of Wolfie’s neck “That was _scary_. I thought he was going to argue.” he said and Wolfie lifted his nose and bumped it against Wild’s cheek.

It didn’t take long for the party to quiet down and Wild settled into the straw and blankets next to Wolfie, satisfied to see that he had eaten up all of the poultry. Outside, he could hear the Links shuffle into the stable and soon the only sounds he could hear were the cries of birds and the wind drifting through the trees around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually sat down and rode my horse through the entirety of Hyrule and without breaks and just galloping all the way, it takes 22 ingame hours to get from the Dueling Peaks Stable to North Akkala!
> 
> come talk to me about Linked Universe on my twitter! @UnwoundFuture


	4. All I fear means Nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW/CW: I'm describing Twilight's hand-injuries in a little more detail in this one and let's just say it's not nice. It's not overly graphic, I think, but I thought I should give a warning!

* * *

Breakfast on the following morning was calm and collected so they were ready to set out two hours after they had gotten up. Time had offered to switch places with Warriors, so now the pretty boy played escort alongside Wild, seated on Time’s grey pinto.

“How is your leg doing?” Time asked Wind as he grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him onto the wagon’s driver seat with ease. “It’s a lot better”, Wind grinned at him and slipped into place, letting Time ride the wagon. “Only hurts a little when I don’t move it and I can’t walk properly yet but it’s coming around.” He grabbed the back of the seat and leaned over to peak inside to where Wolfie was sleeping.

As Wild and Warriors trotted ahead, Time set the wagon into motion and followed the two riders. Today, the horse in front seemed to be a bit more comfortable. Every time it threw its head in unease, Wild rode as close to the wagon as he could and gave her a comforting pat. He was good with the horses, Time thought.

Sky, Four, Hyrule and Legend occupied the back of the wagon with Wolfie so that it was only Wind and Time in the front. 

They rode back the way they had come yesterday evening and at the fork, took the right path that led up a slate gray gravel path.

“I’m sorry I didn’t ask about your leg before”, Time said quietly and Wind looked at him from the side. 

“It’s alright”, he said, fumbling around with a lose thread on the seam of his tunic. He looked back to Wolfie. He had begun shaking again and Wind just observed how Sky and Legend wrapped a blanket tightly around the animal.

“You were worried about Twilight. No one blames you for that. We were all freaking out.” he said. Despite his exhaustion, Wind had slept poorly. All night he had been tossing and turning, images of Wolfie jumping into the Guardian’s attack flashing before his inner eye over and over again. 

He could smell his burn wounds even in his dreams, could hear his whining. He clenched his fist on his tunic and sat back down properly, facing forward. 

“I’m sorry, too”, he mumbled “I should have been more careful. That Moblin was right in front of me, I should have anticipated his attack and-”

“Wind.” Time’s voice made him look up at the older. “You reacted perfectly. You brought your shield up in just the right moment and avoided being smashed by the club. Everything that happened afterwards was nothing more than bad luck.” 

“But Twilight-”

“Would have done what he did to protect you and Wild either way. Even if you had not been stuck in the swamp. Don’t beat yourself up over it.” Time looked at him, his one blue eye incredibly kind. 

Wind swallowed around a lump in his throat and couldn’t bear to look at him for long. “Okay”, he croaked. He would never admit it but to hear these words from Time brought him great relief. 

The hero of time had not left Wolfie’s side since yesterday evening and Wind had honestly believed that he was mad at him. For not being more careful. He should have known Time better to know this wasn’t true but-

Well, Wind was just a teenager. 

He sniffled and turned his head away from Time. The older ruffled his hair and focused back on the road.

The scenery around them was changing from rolling hills of green to a more rocky area. The trail was easy to follow. At another fork in the path, Wild guided them down the left path, crossing a large stone bridge.

An ominous looking fortress was rising to their right, looming against the watery-grey sky overhead. It looked like it was going to rain soon.

Airborne machines were whirring around the massive building, red search lights scanning the ground underneath. They were not close enough to be a threat for them but it still made for an impressive picture. “What is that place?” Warriors asked, oblivious to Wild’s tense shoulders and clenched fists.

“Akkala Citadel. It used to be a stronghold for the Hyrulian Army”, Wild said, avoiding to look up at it.

“And these things …?” Wind asked, unable to turn his eyes away from them. “Guardian Skywatchers. They are basically what shot Wolfie back in the swamp.” Wild replied and urged his horse on a little, wanting to get away from this place as fast as the wagon would allow them.

Time could tell this region seemed to have a lot of history that Wild would rather not think about, so he spurred on the horse in front of the wagon to fall into a trot. The looming machines didn’t fill him with too much confidence, either.

After another hour, they came across another fork in the path and once more, Wild lead them down the right path, going down a slope towards a small area that was littered with moss covered Guardians. As soon as the slope gave way to even land, Time slowed the wagon down to almost a halt, eyeing the deactivated machines.

“Is it safe?” he asked Wild, who looked at the machines that stood along their path. It was not an especially long distance to ride - barely twenty minutes - so Wild grabbed his slate and produced a device from it that he tossed Warriors with a heads-up.

The other caught it and noticed a handle at the back of the round disk. As he slipped his hand through it, the disk came alive with a low whir and folded out into a blue glowing shield. “Woah!” Warriors held it a bit ways from him to look it up and down. “Impressive”, he said and saw that Wild held a shield that looked similar. His was bigger and shaped like a triangle. 

“Keep it safe. It can throw back a Guardian’s beam without breaking.” Wild told Warriors, who ogled at the shield even more. 

“You wait here, Warriors and I are going to check if any of the Guardians along the way will get activated and get rid of them.” Wild told Time, who didn’t seem all that happy with his decision but nodded anyway. 

“Be careful.”

***

Warriors and Wild dismounted their horses and gave the reins over to Wind and Time. With their swords drawn and the shield at the ready, they began the march of the length of the Torin Wetland.

A couple of Guardians were close to the road and Wild made sure to poke each and every one of them with his sword. They looked too old and withered to still be a threat but Wild rather wanted to be safe than sorry.  
  
After checking all the Guardians a second time on their way back, Wild deemed it okay. 

Wind handed them a couple of rice balls that Wild had prepared during breakfast. “So?” Time asked and Wild nodded “They are all down. It should be safe for us to travel past them”, he said with his mouth full of food.

As soon as they had finished their break, they continued on and passed the Torin Wetland without any further issues, drove up the hill and were rewarded with a new breathtaking view on the ocean stretching far beyond the horizon in front of them. 

Wind let out a longing sigh and on his request, they stopped the wagon at the highest hill of the point to take in the view.

“I miss the ocean …” Wind whispered, unable to pry his eyes away from the rushing waves. There was no sun shining today and a rough wind was tousling the surface. While Wind was focused on the water, Time noticed the thick black clouds that were gathering at the horizon and were quickly approaching.

He startled when he heard Wolfie cough behind him. “Four?” he asked alarmed and looked over his shoulder where he just caught Four cleaning Wolfie's muzzle. “More blood …” he said through gritted teeth. 

“His fever is still really high and that damn shaking- we-” he sighed “It’s bad, old man.” 

Legend poked out between Time and Wind. “Why the hell did we stop? How much far do we have left until Akkala?” he wanted to know and Time set the wagon back in motion.

Wild steered his horse around and pointed further north “It’s right over there, on top of the cliff, past the stable”, he said, all the things visible in the distance, if only small. “An hour maybe, if we hurry.” Wild kicked his horse gently and started trotting down the hill next to the wagon. 

By the time they had passed half the way, an inward spiraling peninsula came into view on their right with a blue glowing structure in the middle. It reminded Wind of the - shrine? Wild had called it? - back at the stable. Were they scattered all over the lands like this? Who had built them?  
He wondered wherever one would end up if they were to sail across that ocean that seemed to be endless next to them. No islands were in sight and it looked a lot rougher to sail than the ocean he was used to. A bump in the road made him look forward again. It seemed to be a well treated path as no grass was growing on it anymore and only a few little pebbles littered their way.

“Ah… hell.” Warriors cursed. This time, the rain started out as a steady drizzle but it was there nonetheless. Time shoo’d Wind to the back of the wagon where he was safe from the wet. Warriors quickly wrapped his scarf around his head for a makeshift hood and Wild, too, magically summoned a decorated hood from his slate. 

According to Wild, it was just up the hill and they would have finally made the trip to the northern-most point of Akkala and arrive at the Ancient Tech Lab.

They passed the East Akkala stable - the Lab already coming into view - when Warriors called out.  
“Is that a Guardian?!” he asked, positioning himself in front of the wagon, the blue glowing shield lifted. Confirmation came in form of a red tracker beam, that the Guardian trained right on them. 

Time brought the wagon to an abrupt halt and looked around frantically. The path was too narrow to turn around on with the horse bound to the wagon. He couldn’t make the horse go backwards either and so his head snapped back around to look at Warriors, who held the shield up with his eyes wide and focused on the Guardian.

“Wild!” Time called out. 

Wild felt like he had swallowed a bucket of ice. Right … he had completely forgotten about Robbie’s pet Guardian that ‘kept watch’ over his lab but distinguished neither friend nor foe and just attacked everything on sight. 

He stared on, shell-shocked as the Guardians beeping increased in volume and urgency and did not hear Time calling for him. They were almost there. They were going to safe Twilight. They couldn’t just- he couldn’t just- 

Warriors moved forward then and Wild could do nothing than watch him. His legs were clamped tightly around his horses’ middle, his hands shaking around the reins and no matter how much he screamed at himself to move, he simply couldn’t. He could only sit and watch as Warriors moved closer to the Guardian, steering the horse slightly away so it was only him the laser was pointing at.  
He was vaguely aware of the others screaming.

“Warriors!! Get back!!” Time called out and scrambled off the wagon, not willing to lose another of his friends to the metal beast. Time started running towards Warriors but just in that moment the Guardian fired. 

The laserbeam crashed into the blue-glowing shield and was thrown right back at the Guardian. The horse reared up with a loud whinny and the impact of the beam threw Warriors off its back with a thud.

Struck by its own force, the machine toppled over and exploded. The smoke was quickly diffused by the steady dripping rain. “Warriors!!” Time sank to his knees next to the other hero and helped him into a sitting position. “I’m alright!” he said right away, rubbing his back “Did it work?!” he wanted to know and Time glanced between the horses legs to where there were only remains of the machine. 

Screws and cogwheels, as far as he could tell. “I think so.”

“Warriors!” Wind called out from the wagon and they both looked over to see the little sailor hobbling over. Sky, Legend and Hyrule had left the wagon as well and Four was looking out from behind the wooden driver’s seat. “I’m fine-” Warriors said but was thrown back in the dirt as Wind jumped at him and gave him a nearly bone breaking hug. “What are you- insane?!” Legend huffed “Didn’t you see what that thing did to Twilight?”

“It’s fine. Wild said the shield would reflect the beam. It was our only choice.” Warriors said calmly and stood up with Wind still clinging to him like a little monkey. His weight didn’t seem to bother him much.

“And you trust him _that_ much?!” Legend snapped back.

“Don’t you?”

***

Time looked over to where Wild was still frozen on his horse and walked over. He placed his hand on his knee and hoped the touch wouldn’t startle him too much. “Cub?” he asked him in a low voice and Wild blinked a few times, looking down on him eventually. “Y-Yes … sorry. Is Warriors alright?” he croaked and finally pried his hand off the reins to rub over his face. When Time nodded, his shoulders slumped and he let out a sigh. 

“Thank Hylia …” he whispered. “I’m sorry. I should have done something- it’s just-” 

Time furrowed his brows “Wild, you don’t have to explain yourself. We’re all scared sometimes, okay? We’re almost there, let’s get this last piece of road over with and help Twi.” 

“Right.” Wild said and waited until Time had climbed back on the wagon. Together, they finally rode up the last bit of hill and arrived at the top of the cliff where Time directed the wagon off to the side. Wild jumped off his horse and ran over to the door, knocking it a couple of times.

Back, when Zelda had still been inside the castle, Wild had just waltzed into the Lab like he lived there but since her return, he was more mindful of his manners. It didn’t take long for Jerrin to open the door and was surprised when she noticed how out of breath Wild was “Link, are you alright?” she asked and an audible gasp came from the inside of the house. 

“Link?!” 

Zelda shuffled downstairs, short blonde hair bobbing around her ears. She skipped the last two steps and appeared in the door frame, pushed past Jerrin and hugged Wild in greeting. “Link! You’re home! Are you okay?” she wanted to know and stepped back from him but kept her hands on his shoulders. 

Even though Wild’s shoulders were tense, he managed to smile at her, put his hands to her arms and nodded “I’m alright”, he said and looked over his shoulder. Little by little, the other Links trickled into view.

“I’m alright but one of my friends needs your help.” he said as Time appeared next to him and Zelda’s attention immediately snapped to him. Of course - Time made for an imposing figure. He was a full head taller than Wild, wore a shining, heavy armor and kept his blind eye closed. The markings on his face looked like war paint.

“Oh-” Zelda breathed as Time bowed in front of her “Princess Zelda. My name is Link, but my companions call me Time”, he said and Zelda covered her mouth with her hand. 

  
She saw not only him but the rest of the Links that Wild had so thoroughly described in his letters, climb out of the wagon. All except for the one he wrote most about. Twilight.

“It’s an honor to meet you. Wil- Link talked a lot about you.” Time lifted himself to his full height again. “I wish we could exchange more pleasantries, but I’m afraid we are in dire need of your help.” he said and Wild nodded. He took Zelda’s hand - gentle, Time noticed, so, so gentle - and guided her over to the wagon, were Four was still sitting next to the hurting wolf. Zelda recognized him immediately. “Oh! Is this Twilight? What happened to him?” she asked Wild and with his help, she climbed into the wagon to have a look at the absurdly large animal. 

“He was hit by a Guardian”, Four told her after he briefly introduced himself “He was gravely injured and can’t transform back into his human body. Wild thinks you might be able to help him back.” he said, his hand resting in Wolfie’s neck.

Wild - the nickname made Zelda chuckle. But she was serious in a matter of moments and slipped close to run her hands gently along the wrapped up torso of the wolf, feeling where blood was soaking through. She retreated her hand and felt his ears instead. They were hot to the touch. 

“We should try to get him inside”, Robbie’s voice sounded from the back of the wagon. “Of course.” Wild said.

It took some effort to get Twilight out of the wagon again and even more effort to get him through the door and into the Lab, where they placed him on the ground behind Cherry. Jerrin had spread more blankets on the ground for the wolf to lie on. 

Zelda watched the procedure, her hands knitted together. 

Twilight seemed in a poor state and she wasn’t sure if she could really help. His breathing was strained, his eyes squeezed shut in pain. “There is a crystal on his forehead”; Time said, next to her. It startled her - his voice was a lot deeper than Link’s and it sounded so solemn.  
It almost reminded her of her father.

He sounded like a man who had been through many trials and hardships and had settled into his fate.

She looked up at him but his eye was trained on Twilight on the ground. “He uses it to shift forms. He told me that he has an inner voice that helps him transform but apparently he lost that voice.” he said, his brow furrowed in concern.

“Alright”, Zelda said and moved over once they had brought him into a comfortable position and had wrapped the blanket around him again.

The princess knelt down in front of Twilight and carefully brushed her fingers over the cuts and scratches all over his face. They were no longer bleeding but some were still raw and had began to scar over. She moved her hands up until she found the crystal that was embedded into his skin underneath his fur. Zelda had never seen such a peculiar shape and she made a mental note to ask Twilight about it later. Once she had gotten it out of him.

“I might need some space.” she said and could not help but smile as all the Links slipped away from her.

***

Since the defeat of the Calamity, two years ago, Zelda had not been forced to use her power of sealing so she felt she was a little rusty. She settled into a more comfortable kneeling position and placed both her hands over the crystal in Twilight’s forehead. 

Zelda closed her eyes and found the light within, kept safe in the depths of her heart and began pulling it up and all the way through her chest, her shoulders and her arms until she could feel its warmth in her palms. Even through her closed eyes, she could see the glowing, could feel the light move into the Shadow Crystal. The gem was getting hotter by the second and soon Zelda thought that something was wrong. 

With the light guiding her, she had found the way into Twilight’s mind. But where she had expected a landscape or anything that was resembling his home, she was met with pitch darkness. Orange particles were floating all around her.  
Floating, just like she did, she realized.  
She spun around her own axe, once more dressed in the ceremonial gown she had worn when the Calamity had struck. 

Around her was nothing but the dark void.

“Twi-”, she paused and then changed her mind “Link! Are you here?” she called out for him and tried to find anything that could guide her to him. Her voice echoed out but there was no answer. 

Zelda clasped her hands together and bowed her head “Hylia, please. Help me find the hero of twilight’s embers …” she said quietly. The goddess answered her call with a fairy made of light that sprung from her chest and flew around her before darting off into the dark. “Wait”, Zelda gasped and followed it as fast as she could. The way seemed absolutely endless and the surroundings did not change. It was still black and all she could see were the orange particles - the embers - all around her. 

Yet, the fairy flew on, determined.

Weather it was an eternity that passed or just a second, Zelda couldn’t tell.  
The embers around her got denser by the second until it filled her vision and she could barely see the fairy anymore. “Wait!” she called out again, looking left and right in an attempt to find its golden light again. Suddenly, she slammed shoulder first into a wall and was thrown back “What …” she whispered confused and looked up. The wall glimmered dark, square, orange patterns spread all over it that pulsated with something that sounded like a weak, irregular heartbeat. As Zelda reached out and touched it, the magic of the wall repelled her with sizzling hotness. She hissed quietly and retreated her hand again, holding it close to her chest. The fairy she had chased before appeared in the corner of her eyes and disappeared.

“I see …” Zelda whispered and looked back up at the wall. “Link! Are you in there?” she called out, her voice echoing back to her. 

“Link!” 

Nothing more than her own voice answered her. Moments or eternities passed but suddenly, a face appeared behind the wall. It was a young man, in his mid-twenties Zelda thought, with dark blonde hair, odd markings on his forehead and eyes that flickered between steel blue and orange. Zelda could not hear his voice but she could see him slam his fists against the wall and calling out to her. Suddenly, a panicked expression crossed his features as his head snapped up and looked at something.

From the center of the wall, a glowing string of orange energy formed into a big hand that suddenly reached for her, encasing her whole body with three fingers, lifted her up and tossed her into the void.

***

Zelda screamed as a burst of energy threw her back and she nearly slammed into the wall. Luckily, one of the eight Links was behind her and caught her before she could make contact. When Zelda looked up, she saw crystal blue eyes that looked at her in concern. He had nearly perfect eyebrows and soft hair with the color of the sun.  
Oh, this had to be Warriors. The handsome Link, as her Link had written.

And by Hylia, he truly _was_ handsome. 

“Are you alright, your highness?” he asked as he helped her into a sitting position and Zelda almost blushed, nervously brushing her hair behind her ears.

  
“Y-Yes, I’m alright. Thank you.” she said and looked away, back to the wolf in the room who had not moved, despite of what had happened in his mind.

“What happened??” Wild wanted to know, slipping into her vision and pulling her to her feet. Zelda put her hand to his arm, holding onto him. “I found him”, she said “I found … Twilight. I think he is imprisoned but … but the power of whatever is holding him captive is stronger than mine.” she said, her brows furrowed.

Time’s shoulders sacked as he swallowed dryly. “So … what now ..?” Wind asked quietly and looked up at their leader, who returned his look equally helpless.

“I don’t … I don’t know …” he said.

The silence that followed left Zelda with a bad feeling. They had relied on her to help their friend and she had turned out to be a dead end. It felt too much like a hundred years ago. Failed. Again.

She bowed her head in front of the Links. 

“My sincerest apologies. I wish I knew what to do...”

“You did what you could, your highness.” Time said and when she looked at him, she knew he meant it. That he wasn’t mad at her. That neither of them seemed to be, even though Wild’s expression was absolutely devastated.

“Maybe we can contact Impa in Kakariko. She might know a thing or two-”

There was a voice inside her head and Zelda's mouth snapped shut. “Huh..?” she whispered and looked around. The voice spoke up again and Zelda tried to find where it was coming from.

There.

“What did you say?” she asked and pulled away from Wild’s arms, taking a few steps towards the hero of the Sky, she thought. The young man lifted his eyebrows surprised and even held his hands up “I didn’t say anything.” he said and Zelda walked up to him, trying to listen. She put her hands on his shoulders and looked over them, looking left and right. “Where are you?” she asked and Sky looked at Wild with a worried expression. 

Zelda gasped when she noticed the leather straps that connected to a sheath on his back. “The sword that seals the darkness …” she whispered and suddenly took it from him.

“Hey, hey!” Sky called out and wanted to take it back but Zelda held it tightly in her hands and turned her back to him so Sky tried to reach around her with no success. “Give it back!”

“You’re talking!” Zelda said to the sword and Sky just stared at the back of Zelda's head.

“You can hear Fi?!” Sky called out and jumped next to her, putting his hand to the blade as well. “What is she saying?!”

“Fi?” Legend asked, confused, but Sky shushed him.

Legend stared at him, mouth agape. Sky had _shushed_ him?! Sky had never shushed him before. The audacity!

“Sky, I swear-”

“ _SHH!_ ”

Sky almost looked angry and turned back to Zelda. “What is she saying?” he wanted to know. 

Zelda had put the sword to her forehead and closed her eyes again.

“She says you should use her. Apparently, the Master Sword helped Twilight to break free of the curse before.” she said “But he has to help, too. He has to be up and fight against it.” She opened her eyes as the voice left her and looked up at Sky.

“She’s gone, right?” he whispered and Zelda just nodded “Sorry …” she replied equally quietly and Sky gave her such a kind and sad smile, it made her heart ache.

“It’s alright.” he said and took the blade back from her.

“If you do that, you’re gonna have to do it outside”, Robbie's voice called out and they both turned to him. Only now they noticed the books that had been blown out of their shelves with the energy wave that had repelled Zelda and she nodded. “Of course.” Wild said right away.

He walked over to where Wolfie was laying and shook his shoulders until the wolf let out a huff and opened his eyes. He seemed incredibly tired.

“Twi …” he said quietly. “We know how to help you but you have to help, too.” he told him what the Master Sword had said and the wolf looked up at him and nodded. With Wild’s help, he heaved himself to his feet, trying to put as much of his weight on the lesser destroyed of his front paws, whining just from the motion.

Getting out of the house was a struggle that Wolfie only managed with the help of Time, Sky and Warriors, who half carried him outside. Twilight was grinding his teeth against the pain and pushed through until they arrived outside of the house. 

Rain was still drizzling from grey clouds.

Between the house and more Guardian remains, a large area of grass seemed perfect for their ordeal.

Wolfie stood on shaky legs, Wild and Time still at his side as he watched Sky take position in front of him. “Alright. We can do this, Fi.” he whispered and pulled the Master Sword out of its sheath. It gleamed in the low light of the early evening and without further ado, Sky slammed the sword into the ground and wrapped both his hands around the hilt, kneeling down behind it. 

Wolfie let out a big sigh and focused on the yellow glowing gem in the center of the hilt that seemed to be calling out for him. 

***

The past two days for Twilight had passed in a haze. 

He remembered taking the blow for Wild and Wind.

He remembered his world exploding in pain. 

Yes, that was what he remembered the most. 

The pain. 

The pain from landing on the ground, from being dragged away from the water. Pain from being lifted up and carried to the stable. 

He remembered Time’s and Wild’s hands on him, comforting him at any given moment and he wasn’t sure how he had gotten there but he remembered being in a wagon. And Time had taken care of an injury in his shoulder. 

The pain as he had poked around in it had been near unbearable. 

He had _bitten_ Time.

Good, kind, careful Time. The only person aside from Rusl that had ever felt like a father to him.

Who had given him comfort and safety during the trip. 

And he had thanked him with a bite. His heart hurt.

He had been carried around again, brought into a house were things smelled different, old and metallic.

  
And then hands on his forehead. Someone inside his mind. Zelda? Wild’s Zelda?

He had seen her through the wall he was imprisoned behind, had called out to her but ultimately, he had been helpless to watch how she was gripped and thrown away.

And now he was here.

Standing on paws that could barely carry him and staring at the Master Sword in the ground. 

He never wanted to hurt any of his friends ever again.

He never wanted to see this sad expression on Time’s face all the time.

He never wanted to feel Wild’s tears on his neck ever again.

He wanted to be last person in the world to make his Cub cry.

He knew what the Master Sword asked of him. He had done it before.

_He could do it again._

***

Sky watched in anxious anticipation what was going to happen next. The Links were gathered around him, Zelda and this Robbie to the left and the right of Wild. The Master Sword was slightly vibrating in Sky’s grip as Wolfie lowered his head and began creeping closer to it. Immediately, Sky could tell he didn’t just move slowly because of his damaged paws. As soon as the wolf set himself in motion, a pressure filled the air that nearly made Sky’s ears pop. The Master Sword vibrated harder until it was nearly shaking, a whir sounding from deep within the blade. Sky was having troubles holding onto it, the shake moving his entire arms with them. He grit his teeth against the strain and tried to hold his hands still.

Wolfie was nearly at the blade, lowering his head so he could push his forehead against the yellow gem when a blast of energy threw him back several feet. Sky let out a yelp as he was thrown back and it was once more Warriors who jumped to catch him. 

“What was that?” Legend wanted to know, his arms crossed as Time rushed to help Wolfie back to his feet. Sky shrugged “I’m not sure. Maybe the power is too strong for the Master Sword?” He didn’t want to say it, but it just slipped from his lips.

No, he believed in Fi. She was strong enough to help Twilight. If not- he would be trapped in this cursed body forever.

“I’ll help you.” Warriors said on a whim and helped Sky into standing. Together they resumed Sky’s previous position and Warriors made to stand behind him, resting both his hands on Sky’s shoulders.

Wolfie huffed. _Again._ He seemed to say as he once more began his tedious march towards the blade. 

It nearly played out like the first time. The Master Sword shook but with Warriors behind him, Sky felt he could hold her a little better and a little tighter. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough and they were thrown back once more.

“All together …” Four murmured next to Wind, who looked at him from the side. “Huh?”

“We all have to help.” Four said and marched over to the blade. But instead of holding onto Sky, he grabbed a hold of the blade’s handle, kneeling next to the sword that was as tall as him. “We’re all the hero of courage. Together, we MUST have enough power to break that spell.” he said.

Legend scoffed. It couldn’t be that easy, right? Saving Twilight with the _power of friendship?!_ Please.

Wild squeezed Zelda's shoulder and took the other side of the Master Sword. It felt warm to the touch. Hyrule shrugged and helped Wind hobble over to the sword. Wind sat down in front of Sky and put his hand to the handle, Hyrule took his place next to Four and placed his hand next to his. Warriors shifted so he could put his hand at the base of the handle. Legend rolled his eyes towards the sky and with a groan, he walked over and flopped down next to Wind, putting his hand next to Wild’s.

“It’s not gonna work.” he grumbled.

  
Almost simultaneously, all the Links looked up to their leader. Time still stood at Twilight’s side and stared at the blade in the ground that everyone was holding onto. Even Twilight lifted his head to look up at him.

Time was tense. This blade that had brought him nothing but sorrow and despair, this accursed piece of leather and metal that had stolen his entire childhood away. This thing was supposed to save his pup? When it could bring nothing but ruin?

He felt Twi’s nose in his palm and looked down on him. Twilight - proud, strong Twilight who stood on shaky legs and had the kindest look in his eyes. 

Twilight who would not think ill of him for wanting to stay as far away from the sword as possible.

It wouldn’t be fair to let his own past stand in the way of Twilight’s future. Of his life.

He put his hand on Twilight’s head and gave him a light scratch. “You’ll be fine, pup. I promised.” he said and stepped up to the group. He took his place standing next to Sky and put his hand on the top of the handle. It felt too familiar and he wanted nothing more than retreat and leave this place but this wasn’t about him.

The Master Sword stopped vibrating as soon as she felt Time’s connection and the pressure in the air changed. It was filled with anticipation as Twilight once more - and for the last time, they hoped - started moving towards the Master Sword. 

Legend cringed with every step he took, desperately forcing himself not to look at the way the bandages around his paws got dirtier by the second and blood was soaking through. It couldn’t have been a pleasant walk. 

  
  


***

The energy around the sword was building up again, pushing against whatever was holding Twilight captive and the wolf in turn threw his whole body against the force that was trying to pull him back. 

He started to growl against the strain the magic put on his body, his injuries and his soul. 

He could smell his friends gathered around the blade, could see their auras mixing together into a near blinding aurora that was begging him to come closer, to never falter, to. 

_Keep._

**Going.**

And so he did.

He kept going until he thought he might go crazy from the pain, kept going when he felt a muscle in his leg snap from the strain and he kept going when the prison in his mind started to shatter around him with earsplitting cracks.

As the heavy chunks rained down on his human form, he ran through the darkness and screamed Midna's name. Finally, he could hear her hum and he thought his heart was going to burst when he saw her shape at the edge of the dark.

Darkness giving way to Hyrule Fields, to a blazing sunset and to the Twilight Queen, his queen, waving at him and beckoning him to come closer and walk into the light with her.

Link set out at full speed, sprinting into her outstretched arms. As their bodies made contact, he felt his real forehead bump against the gem in the center of the hilt. Incredible warmth spread through him as the darkness was washed off him.

His animal form broke into black particles that disappeared into the sky above. The Shadow Crystal dropped against his chest, still attached to the leather necklace he was wearing it on. His bloody hand was pressed against the sword, joining the circle of the other eight heroes.

Midna’s embrace was gone.

And he felt cold. Cold and tired and in so much pain and yet - _alive_. Himself. Fresh tears dripped down his scarred face, mixing with the rain that was falling from the skies.

Twilight fell forward, leaning on his arms and screamed. 

“Twi!!”

The Links broke away from the sword and Wild was the first to fall down next to him and wrap his arms around him. Twilight screamed and sobbed until his voice broke - letting go of all the emotions he had held in for so long - and he could do no more than lean into the embrace of his brothers, feeling each of them close as they held him tight in a quite possibly uncomfortable hug.

Zelda felt the tears sting in her eyes as she watched the reunion and stifled a sob, too. She had never expected them to be this close.

It was Time who decided to break the contact. He had noticed Twilight going slack in their arms, unconscious from the exhaustion and he lifted him into his arms like Twilight wasn’t almost his equal size and the burliest of the guys. 

In his arms - Zelda thought - Twilight looked like a son being carried by his father.

***

As Time had feared, Twilight’s injuries were severe and unfortunately did not magically heal away by returning to his own body. 

They undressed him - Sky carefully folded his pelt and his tunic and put it away on a nearby desk - and undid the messy bandages around his upper body. The burns took up most of the skin on his torso and his hands were in a terrible shape. 

The palm of his right hand was burned and raw, the skin badly blistered all the way up to the tip of his fingers.

His left hand was missing the pinky, the ring and his index finger.

The Bokoblin claw marks had left deep scratches on his face and his throat that had already began to scar.

Jerrin appeared next to Zelda and Hyrule who were taking care of the injuries. She carried a basin full of warm water and a couple of clean towels. Luckily, Twi was still unconscious so cleaning out the dirt and blood was painless for him. 

Zelda's power of the goddess had some healing properties so with her help, they managed to treat his infected wounds. 

Within two hours, Twilight’s fever was gone and he had slipped from unconsciousness into sleep. For the first time in nearly three days, Time felt he could relax and that he had held his promise.

Twilight would be fine.

***

The Links used the following days to rest, too. They got cleaned up and had some food and Zelda made sure to have thorough talks with every Link she could get her hands on which were nearly all of them except for Legend, who didn’t want to talk to her and Twilight, who simply couldn’t. 

Zelda thought they were all lovely. 

Sky was kind, spoke in a soft voice and maintained eye contact throughout their conversation, replying to all of her question with thorough answers. When Zelda inquired about his Zelda, his smile turned bright and his gaze so full of love as he retold the story of their childhood friendship and their relationship. It filled Zelda's own heart with a lot of joy and she was happy that they had stayed together despite their hardships.

Wind was his opposite. His eyes were darting all over the place, his language was colorful and full of stories and when he told of the sea, his eyes were sparkling like the sun. He recalled his Zelda, who had disguised herself as a pirate and joined him on his quest. It had caused Zelda to give out an excited “Oh!” and clap her hands at the thought of sailing the sea as the captain of a foolhardy gang of pirates.

Hyrule was mild and calm and when asked, told Zelda he had little story to tell, that he was just a wanderer and by far not as heroic as the rest of the group. But he spoke with a smile and the secrets he hid behind his indigo eyes intrigued Zelda to no end. He wouldn’t even tell her much about his Zelda, saying that like her, she was a princess but seemed to be as secretive about her as he was about himself.

Warriors - as she had noted before - was as charming as he was handsome and more than anyone else, he reminded Zelda of a fairy tale prince. He flattered her about her achievements and her work, complimented her quick thinking in the time of their crisis and if Zelda wouldn’t have known any better, she thought he was flirting. It took only a glare from Wild however for him to stop. They talked in length about his Zelda and Zelda was thrilled to hear about another incarnation of herself that was so strong and capable of leading whole armies into battle.

It was hard to get a hold of Four, Zelda had quickly noticed. He was very fascinated by Cherry and so he had asked Robbie to tell him all about the Guardians and the armor the robot created. Zelda baited him, though, with her own research notes on the Guardians. Out of all the Links, Four seemed to be the most collected and focused at all times. He discussed the Guardians with Zelda in length, pointed out things he had noticed here and there and by Hylia, Zelda wished he could stay and help her more. He spoke with adoration about his Zelda, who was, much like Sky, his childhood friend. They had often snuck out together and secretly spend some time. Zelda thought it sounded pretty romantic and when she said so, Four blushed and turned away from her, but didn’t deny anything either.

Time was as impressive as ever, even when wasn’t completely tensed up because of Twilight. He sat at the bedside of his protegé - as Zelda had learned - and either watched him or the commotion all around. At first, Zelda had expected him to be as secretive as Hyrule. His outfit certainly made Zelda want to ask him a ton of questions and she found that Time answered all of them, some in a very clear way, and some a little more vague. Zelda had settled down on a little stool, having pushed her hands under her thighs and looked up at him as he talked. He was very captivating, she thought. “And how about your Zelda?” she inquired and just for a brief second, an expression crossed Time’s face that Zelda couldn’t place. Sadness? Anger? Disappointment?

“I have one”; he said instead and settled on a polite smile “She’s the queen. We do not talk much.” he said and before Zelda could ask more about her, he instead showed her his hand “I have a wife, however.” he said, this time with a genuine smile. Zelda gasped. “Really? Oh! Please do tell all about her!” and that was what Time did. His expression of love and fondness paralleled by Sky only when he talked about his Zelda.

“Mh. She sounds lovely.” Zelda said when Time was done and Time nodded. “She is. Malon is the greatest gift the goddess Hylia has ever bestowed upon me.” he hummed and looked at Twilight, who shifted in the sheets of his bed. Absentmindedly, he reached out and brushed some hair out of his face.

“He is my descendant”, he said. Zelda lifted her eyebrows “Oh? That’s -”, that explained a lot. “That’s wonderful.” she smiled “You took great care of him. You still do.” Time just nodded “We have to look out for each other.” he said, even though the way he said it, it sounded more like he had to look out for Twilight.

“We think I might be his descendant.” Wild suddenly said and plopped down at the foot end of Twilight’s bed. “Ah! No way, really?” Zelda asked and moved forward on her stool, slipping closer to Wild until their knees were touching. Her own Link shrugged. “We don’t know for sure but the others say we have a lot of things in common.” he said and looked at Twilight with brotherly fondness.

Zelda made a mental note to go hunt for remaining bloodline documents in the castle and hoped she could find something. 

“You make a fine group of heroes.” Zelda said and leaned against Wild’s leg, who put his hand on her neck and gently rubbed her shoulders. It had been rocky at first but over the months after Zelda’s return, affection between the two of them had gotten easy and almost natural - holding hands, smiling unabashedly at each other, brushing over each other’s cheek or hair - to a point that Zelda had begun to miss it dearly since Wild had been spirited away on this mysterious task.

Time watched the interaction between the two of them with a smile. “Wait until you get to talk to Twilight. You’re going to love him.” he smirked and Wild nodded enthusiastically. “Oh yeah! And he is wicked strong! He taught me how to wrestle. I thought I was strong but he threw me out of the ring like I was just some Deku Leaf!” Zelda giggled. 

Somehow, it was not hard for her to imagine that. 

***

When Twilight finally woke up, he spent the first hours of consciousness with apologizing profoundly. Only when even Legend reassured him that it was okay and no one was mad at him, did he seem satisfied and finally began to eat the stew that Wild had prepared for him.

In the evening of his third day of being awake, Twilight sat with the others around the big table they had set up behind Cherry. Eating by himself was difficult and he could barely hold the spoon with his right hand, fisting the handle awkwardly, like he was a child that didn’t know how to use cutlery yet. When his spoon dropped into the risotto for the second time that evening and Wild went to pick it up for him, Twilight groaned in frustration.

“You have to leave me behind.” he said.

Silence fell on the table as everyone’s heads turned to him. Wild was the first to break it.

  
“What- no!”

“Yes. Wild- everyone. _Look at me_.” Twilight lifted his hands - or what was left of them and gingerly moved them back down, “I’m of no use to you like this.” he said, matter-of-factly. Or at least he tried to sound cool but Time could tell the very thought of having to stay was awful to him.

Despite his furry persona, Twilight was far from being a lone wolf. He loved to spend time in a group, share stories around the campfire, teach the others his skills with diligence and patience. He fought valiantly to make sure everyone was fine and was going to make it out alive and went great lengths to protect his … well, Time thought, slightly amused, _to protect his pack_.

To be alone - it must be the worst possible outcome.

Twilight avoided looking at them for a moment, gathering his thoughts. “Please”, he finally said “Like this, I’m nothing more than a liability. I can’t fight, I can’t provide food, I-” he cleared his throat. Talking was still a strain to him, his vocal chords having sustained some damage due to the scratches against his throat.

“I don’t want to put you more in danger by having to be bodyguarded.” he said.

Wild hated how reasonable this sounded. How much sense it made to leave the defenseless behind. He knew he would be safer here. Could heal properly. But would they be able to fulfill their duty without him? Would the group still be the same? Would Twilight still be the same once he was healthy?

“But you’re not home. Shouldn’t you at least stay with us until we shift to your world?” Hyrule asked and Twilight sighed. 

“I thought about that too but- no. I couldn’t ask you to drag me along. If you ever find out what makes us shift worlds, I’m just gonna rely on you to come back for me.” he said and managed a small smile. 

“I promise we will put our all into finding out everything we can on our side.” Zelda chimed in but made a point of not looking at Wild, who looked at her like she had betrayed him.

“You already made plans?!” he wanted to know and Twilight elbowed him “She wants to help me.” he said. Wild snorted angrily.

“I’m not leaving you behind, Twi!”

“Cub, I’m asking you to know better. You-“

But Wild pushed himself to his feet and stormed up the stairs towards the open upper floor where he could easily climb the large telescope on the roof of the lab.

With his arms crossed, he flopped into the sunbed, gently pushing the Korok aside that was still dabbling about this place. He crossed his arms and stared out towards Death Mountain. 

Leaving Twilight behind! Ridiculous! He was far from okay, he hated being alone why did he insist to stay when they were perfectly capable of taking care of him?!

Fuming, Wild tried to make sense of his proposal. How could he say that?! He deserved their help. He deserved to at least be brought home by them. Didn’t he miss his family?!

… Did he even have one? 

Twilight barely talked about his Hyrule, his adventures. When prompted, he would just talk about the kids of the village and about a girl named Ilyia. But even those stories never lasted long. It was weird - Wild realized - how open he was with Twilight about his friends, his memories and what he remembered of his past while all the while, he had never really asked Twilight and Twilight had never really told anything. Wild wasn’t sure if he should be hurt by this or if it was just Twilight's way of protecting himself from more heartache.

“Cub.” 

Twilight’s hoarse voice made him flinch. He’s always had a sort of voice, that reminded Wild of a crackling campfire - warm but rough. New in a sense, from too little use. Twilight had always been more on the quiet side, much like Hyrule. He had often watched them walk in comfortable silence next to each other.

“Cub … don’t make me climb the telescope. The stairs were already hard enough.” he could hear that Twi was out of breath and knitted his brows. Getting up here only took a long set of stairs and two ladders and- oh.

Wild caved in and hoisted himself out of the sunbed and simply jumped back down next to Twilight’s side, who had sat down where the wooden planks of the mismatched addition to the house ended. Wild dropped down next to him and leaned his shoulder gingerly against his.

“ _It’s not fair_.” he mumbled “You always keep us together and save and now that it’s our turn to watch you, you want to stay behind.” 

Twilight took a deep breath, lifted his arm with some effort and wrapped it around Wild. He barely managed to hold back the little hiss of pain. 

“I don’t _want_ to, but we both know it’s the only logical thing to do.” he said quietly, looking over the landscape that stretched underneath them. “I can’t put you all in danger by looking out for me in a fight. Who knows, from here on out the enemies might get bigger, stronger. I know you are an amazing fighter but you can’t have your eyes everywhere.” 

Wild turned his head, hiding it in Twilight’s shoulder.

He hated this. He hated that Twilight was right. 

“.... will you be alright …?” he asked him after a pause and Twilight leaned his cheek on top of Wild’s untamed mop of hair.

  
“Of course, Cub. I survived this, right?” he said and felt Wild tense against his side. The younger snaked both his arms around Twilight’s middle and hugged him tightly.

***

Four handed Zelda a tightly bound stack of papers. “Here”; he said. “Some of my notes on the Guardians. Maybe they will be of use.” he said and Zelda took them with two hands. “Thank you.” she said with a smile.

Another two days had passed and the heroes had restocked on all of their supplies and were now getting ready to set out again - without Twilight. He stood next to Zelda, dressed down in his light undertunic and some loose pants. His hands hung at his side, still wrapped up in bandages.

“We’ll come back for you.” Sky promised and hugged Twilight - just like the other Links had hugged him before. The length of hugs had varied, of course, but each of them had felt heartfelt.

“I know”; Twilight said and caught Wild’s gaze. He smiled at him. “I’m already looking forward to it.” he said.

This time, Time was the one to take up the rear of the group, being the last to say goodbye to his pup. His heart was heavy with the thought of leaving without him, the group undoubtedly different without him. But more than anything else, he wanted Twilight to be okay. And taking him along was simply too dangerous.

He pulled him in for a tight and long hug and eventually patted his back. “Get well, so if we come along your Hyrule, we can tell them that you’re okay.” he said right next to his ear and after another moment, he stepped back and searched for something in his bag. “Here”, he said and handed him a leather necklace. A wooden pendant dangled from it, carved out of a Deku Stick, as far as Twilight could tell. 

It was shaped like a kite and decorated with intricate carvings that clearly spoke of Sky’s handyship. Two bright blue, almost glowing, pearls were strung to the left and the right of the pendant.

He hung it around Twilight’s neck and then reached into his own shirt to show him that he was wearing a counterpart. “We made it a couple of days ago. Sky carved it from Deku wood and Four helped me make the pearls out of a Moon’s Tear gem. Hyrule put a spell on it so- it’ll get warm when the pieces are close to each other.” he said and Twilight could feel it through the linen fabric of his shirt.

“That way, if you’re feeling better and you find a way to control the portals before us, you will know when we’re close.” 

Twilight could feel tears sting in his eyes but he bit them back quickly and wrapped his arms once more around Time.

“ _I will definitely find you._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand it's done! I don't think I ever wrote that much for a fandom!! Thank you all so much for the kudos and the comments! I already have a sequel planned so please let me know if you would want to read more!!
> 
> Also, don't hesitate to DM me about Zelda or Linked Universe on twitter @UnwoundFuture !!


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